The Rise of 5ds
by ajzeta
Summary: The timeline for the transformation of the Domino we know and love to the dystopia in 5ds doesn't work when you take gx into account. So this is a different explanation of events. Follow Seto Kaiba through the metamorphosis and find out how everything happened. Both action and character based. No pairings. Rated T for death and other serious subjects
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! My first fan fiction. I do not own Yugioh or the characters. So basically based on ages of characters the time line that 5ds gives to explain what happened just doesn't add up. And before I had finished 5ds I sort of made a story in my head about what I thought happened. And I think it makes a lot of sense. But you'll have to disregard some of the stuff from 5ds. But with this story, there will be a lot of chapters. And I'll just warn you that in the beginning the plot will move slowly and will be more focused on the characters and how they've changed (or haven't changed) with time. Later on there will be more action and explanation.

Regarding characters, this is set 17-20 years after the original series ends, so the main characters are 37-40.

Also regarding the characters, with their ages it is likely that most of them have settled down, however, there are only a few characters that I will actually talk about regarding relationships and families. I prefer leaving it open to the reader to decide what they want to happen with relationships. So I don't write any pairings. And even when, on the rare occasion, I do mention relationships, I don't think I'll be using names, so you can think whatever you want.

And when I have a line

* * *

Like that, it means that I'm flipping between times. For the beginnings of chapters, I'll try to make it clear which time frame it is.

Sorry that was on the longer side but I thought you should know all that. Please enjoy :)

Chapter 1

Seto Kaiba stood at his window looking over the city. What had happened? Immediately surrounding the Kaiba Corp building was a pristine utopia. All of the top citizens of the city lived within the small vicinity: businessmen, lawyers, professional duelists, the elites of society. But looking out of the window from nearly the top floor you could only see the city slightly. On the border surrounding the city were a series of waterways and swamp. Small islands of ratty slum communities dotted the surrounding lake. Kaiba felt sick looking at it and made his decision. He scowled at his reflection in the glass and turned around swiftly, remembering the events of 3 years ago.

* * *

Kaiba had been standing at his old window, much as he was standing at the new one now. Whenever he had to make any sort of personal decision he would sit down and concentrate on his work. And when he stopped he often found that he thought much more clearly and could figure everything out. But after an hour of working he now stood at the window running his long fingers through his brown hair, just as unsure as ever.

It wasn't often in his 37 years that he had felt unsure of anything. In fact, the last time he had not been entirely confident about anything was 5000 years ago when he was running around ancient Egypt, unsure what was real and what was his imagination.

He gave his reflection a slight smile. Had it really been 17 years since then? And yet his reflection hadn't changed. Perhaps his face was more rigid and his shoulders slightly broader, but he still held the same thin figure and the same icy eyes. Old acquaintances often approached him; people he seldom recognized; people whose appearances, voices, and personalities had changed with time. But they always recognized him. And nine times out of ten, the first thing they said to him had something to do with the way he hadn't aged or that he looked just as he had at the first KC Grand Prix. In a way it was fitting. He had arguably been 37 since he was a kid. By the age of 16 he had raised a child and was the CEO of a company. He had his own mansion, cars, a college education, and was one of the most powerful men in the world. He hadn't gained any new adult responsibilities that he didn't have when he was a teenager so why should he look any older?

Just as his appearance, hardly anything else about him had changed. He was still the powerful intimidating CEO of Kaiba Corp and he still only truly loved Mokuba at the time being. One of the few changes was his wardrobe. He didn't wear crazy, gravity-defying, studded trench coats with belts on his arms and legs anymore. He still had the coat and he still wore other trench coats. Some were even just as flashy, just more… age appropriate or professional. He couldn't exactly find the right words. And he still wore the white suit he had during the Grand Prix. Only now he had added to the suit collection. Right then, in fact, he was wearing a new light grey suit complete with a white shirt and metallic silver tie. As always he looked dashing. Aside from his wardrobe, what changed was that he rarely saw the gang. Kaiba still preferred being alone, apart from a few close friends, and only saw his old 'pals' on occasion. One of those had been rather recently, only a few months back, when Wheeler came to his office all dressed up with his hair combed and neat. Kaiba laughed at how nervous Wheeler had been. And he had had good reason to be nervous too. After all, he had been asking Kaiba for money to pay the rent. Kaiba chuckled; so much like Wheeler. 'Ok Seto, stop reminiscing and focus.'

Just then Kaiba heard a small rattling and turned to see the framed picture on his desk shift. The room went silent and the frame stopped moving. Kaiba lifted an eyebrow with his head still turned towards his desk. He turned and walked to his desk and pick up the picture frame. He held it up to his face and looked at the picture of Mokuba closely. He placed in down on his desk again and put his hands on his hips as he blew the hair out of his face. Then he heard the rattling again, it lasted for a few seconds and then the shaking came. Kaiba nearly fell to the floor as he was jerked away from his desk. He maintained his balance as the building shook and began making his way to the door. Kaiba didn't think as he stumbled during the shaking through the door to his office. The shaking gradually subsided and an alarm rang

"All evacuate the Building. All evacuate the Building" A security officer came storming through the door to the stair well and another two came from around corners on the floor.

"Mr. Kaiba sir, we must evacuate." And the four rushed to the stairwell, where they climbed 2 floors to the roof. A 4th guard was in the helicopter preparing to take off. The 3 guards and Kaiba hopped into the helicopter, put on head sets and were off. As they were taking off, Kaiba saw the building begin shaking once again. This time the shaking was more intense and it didn't stop. He looked down at the city as building crumbled and smoke and debris rose into the sky and blocked out the view so he could no longer see the crevasses forming in the street. Kaiba looked back over his shoulder to look at the Kaiba Corp Building. To his surprise, as he looked he saw the building collapsing. In all the movies, building collapse slow, but the building was gone into the dust before he could think to look away. It didn't bother him that his building was falling, it had fallen before. But if he had been one floor lower when the quake hit... He shook his head and looked away. He looked back down at the city but all he saw was dust.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Seto Kaiba walked briskly to his desk and grabbed the phone in his left hand as he dialed with his right.

"Yes Mr. Kaiba, how can I help you?"

"I need a favor."

"Anything Mr. Kaiba."

"I need you to set up a meeting with the board."

"Yes sir, that shouldn't be a problem. You have some openings next week, when would you like the meeting?"

"Tonight." There was a moment of silence.

"I don't think I can schedule a meeting with every member of the board for_" She was cut off

"I don't care what you have to do, what you have to cancel, what the board members might be busy with, just make it happen." Another long moment of silence, followed by a very timid,

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."

* * *

The helicopter had travelled a long way from Domino City and the cloud of dust was only visible in the distance as a dirty cloud blowing to the north. Being away from civilization, Kaiba was able to look down without obstruction. He saw what had once been a forest. Now there was a canyon with trees, dirt and rocks crumbling into the gaping hole. The helicopter flew over an area where there was a river. The water flowed shakily through the new rocks and dams made from fallen trees and squirmed to the side of the canyon where it cascading down into darkness. The empty river bed on the other side of the canyon oozed mud and sand over its edge into the abyss. Kaiba looked back to Domino and saw new black smoke rising from the dust and immediately looked back to the forest. The helicopter started turning left to avoid a pillar of thick smoke rising from the woods where Kaiba could see the glow of a fire and a fallen power generator building. There was a cracked road leading away from what had once been a strong structure and the helicopter seemed to follow it. One of the guards looked out the window and turned to the CEO

"We're heading for Zeta City, we've received information that they were only slightly affected by the earthquake and the helicopter pad at their Kaiba Corporation building is functional. We should arrive within an hour." The CEO continued staring out the side of the helicopter. 'Mokuba?'

* * *

Kaiba hung up the phone and turned around to look back at his window. From this location in the room, he could not see any of Inner Domino City. He could only see the ghetto islands on the lake surrounding it. He closed his eyes and sighed, then opened them again. He told himself that he was making the right decision. He had to be. He couldn't let things go on like this. He couldn't live like this anymore.

He turned back to his desk and sat down in the black leather chair. He leaned his elbows on the desk and crossed his hands, placing them in front of his mouth as he leaned forward and stared into space while squinting his eyes. He refocused his gaze and shifted it to the left of his laptop. There stood a framed picture of Mokuba as a smiling child: the same picture he kept on him at all times in his locket. He felt the locket now underneath his dress shirt. He always held Mokuba close to his heart. He smirked, thinking of how corny it all was that he was literally holding Mokuba close to his heart. He pulled his hands away from himself and leaned back straight in his chair. He tapped his fingers on the edge of his desk and then rubbed the back of his neck while closing his eyes again. He took a breath and kept still for a moment, holding his breath. He then reached for his phone and began dialing.

...

"Are you busy?... Can it wait?... Yeah it's important…" Even after the response Kaiba took a second to breath.

"I'm leaving Domino City" There was silence on the other line. Kaiba spun his chair around to face his wall with the window on the left. He grabbed the picture of Mokuba with his free hand and stared at the smiling child in the frame. The smile calmed his nerves. Kaiba had spent his life in Domino. It's the only place where he had lived with his biological parents. The hospital is where his mother died, though he didn't like to think about the city like that. It was also where his father had died in a car accident, again he didn't like thinking about it. The city was where he lived in an orphanage and the Kaiba mansion he was brought to with Gozabura was in Domino. Ok, so he had a lot of bad memories here but even the bad ones were memories in the end. He took over Kaiba Corp here, he dueled Yugi for the first time here, the Battle City tournament had been held in Domino, Ishizu gave him Obelisk at the Domino Museum, all that junk with Egypt had started here. Domino City was his home. But most importantly, all of his good memories with Mokuba were in this city. He had called Domino City home for 40 years now. Deciding to leave Domino for good… No he decided. He shook his head. This place wasn't Domino anymore. He stopped living in Domino 3 years ago. Domino died three years ago. This place didn't hold the memories of his brother. This was just a place. No more. His memories were with him, wherever he went. They would stay with him. And he reached to feel his locket.

* * *

The helicopter touched down on the landing pad and the CEO stepped out. The Zeta building was much smaller than the headquarters. And aside from one small tower which they had just landed on, the building was only 3 floors tall. The Zeta building was mostly for shipping and manufacturing, though some company business was done there, most was done at the headquarters, which was now dust. Security guards and a man in a black suit greeted Kaiba as he walked away from the helicopter.

"Hey Kaiba. It's good to see you're alright." An older Duke Devlin looked up at Kaiba and put his right hand on his shoulder. About ten years ago his game shop had been taken over by Shroeder Corp, now out of business, and Kaiba had offered him employment looking over the newly opening Zeta station for Kaiba Corp. Duke had happily agreed and had done a fantastic job, making the Zeta station one of the most successful with the least issues. Unlike the CEO, Duke Devlin took on a very different appearance from that of 17 years earlier. Gone were the headband, dice earing, teenage lankiness and most of his hair. His body was more muscular, but less toned, much different from the natural thinness of a teenage boy. His hair was cut much shorter though still held a messiness to it. Some things never changed. Also things that hadn't changed were his emerald eyes were still bright but now had a pair of glasses that often reflected the light with an intimidating glare when he smirked. It wasn't in a creepy way though; more in a confident 'I'm better than you' sort of way; which Kaiba approved of in a high ranking employee, as long as the 'I'm better than you' wasn't directed at himself. Kaiba immediately eliminated those looks from employees. Now Duke adjusted the glasses on his face

"The entire branch is monitoring the situation and we're taking safety precautions." The two and their guards walked into the building and took the stairs down as a precaution in case a quake hit while in an elevator. The risk was low, since the Zeta station was in a location where the topography neutralized most quakes. But it was better to be safe and taking the stairs wasn't too extreme of an inconvenience.

"We're also preparing to send aid to the city once the worst aftershocks stop. But we've been keeping updated and it looks bad. We were all relieved when we received the call from your helicopter that you made it out ok. We haven't been able to see what's going on inside the city though. The dust cloud is blocking everything and no news copters can see what's going on."

"The Kaiba Corp Headquarters collapsed." Kaiba said without a pause between Duke's statement and his. Duke looked shocked.

"I saw it collapsing as we flew away." Duke bit his lip and kept walking. He faced his eyes toward the ground.

"We feared something like that. We haven't been able to make contact with anyone… But we didn't expect the whole building to have collapsed. We were hoping that the communications system was just down" There was a long silence as the two men continued walking down the stairs.

"Do you know if anyone's ok?" By anyone Kaiba knew that Duke was referring to their old friends. Though Duke had also lost touch with them for the most part, when he thought of Domino he thought of them as his friends. Kaiba shook his head and spoke rare words for the genius

"I have no idea."


	3. Chapter 3

So I realized this story would be a million chapters if I kept them all the same length that they were so each chapter will gradually be getting longer. Also, I'm sorry that I bring up Kaiba looking young a lot. I just think that that's how the characters would actually react if they saw him and he looked the same, so sorry about that but I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3

"So you've finally decided to leave huh?"

"Yeah, this place just, I can't see this happen, not here… Yeah I'll wait." Kaiba kept staring straight ahead. He lowered the picture down onto his desk.

* * *

He and Duke now stood in Mr. Devlin's office facing a rather large television. There were images of destroyed cities and videos that people sent into the station of the main quake itself. Duke spoke

"I had no idea it was so bad in other parts. When that main quake hit we just felt a short tremor." An alert moved across the bottom of the screen, listing the evacuation areas and what to do if you were in one of those areas. Kaiba seriously doubted it was doing any good. Like anyone in the earthquake zone would be sitting in front of a functional television in the first place. And even if by some magic the television was functional and the people were stupid enough to watch it, they didn't have to look to the TV to see what was going on just outside.

Other towns and cities were being pictured on the screen. It kept flipping between locations. Then Kaiba recognized one as Domino, that is, there was an image of the dust and smoke from the distance. A women in a red suit behind a desk appeared in the corner of the screen,

"This really is just devastating." 'No really? I thought it was lovely news. Idiots.'

"This earthquake is being reported as a 9.8 on the Richter Scale, making it by far the most powerful in recorded history. And a series of aftershocks are still rocking the area. Tsunami warnings have been sent out around the globe and everyone inside evacuation zones is being urged to leave immediately following instructions given by their local governments." A map of the evacuation zones appeared on the screen. It was a long red streak across the map with Domino right in the middle. There was a series of concentric yellow circles across the screen, all varying in size. But one clearly stood out as the largest. That had been the main quake, the one that destroyed his building. And it was centered at Domino City.

"So far we know the extent to which" she listed many cities "have been affected but we are yet to hear anything about the state of Domino City as we are, quite literally, waiting for the smoke to clear." Kaiba scowled at the play on words during a time like this. Just then a lamp on Duke's desk began shaking and they heard the pipes rattling. On the screen they saw the view switch back to a helicopter with Domino in the distance and they saw a large hole open in the ground. 'Mokuba.' Duke placed his hand on Kaiba's shoulder, seeming to know what he was thinking.

"He's smart, he can handle himself." Duke consoled. Kaiba just bit his lip, hating that there was nothing he could do.

* * *

"Wow, I see you are serious, I just got a call from Amy telling me that you called a meeting tonight. So you're planning on taking the company with you?"

"Yeah I've been thinking about it for a while now and I've made my decision. I'll move the headquarters to New York and see how many of the board decide to come with me. There won't be any more Kaiba Corp in Domino."

"Well, I'll make sure I'm at the meeting tonight. And I guess I'll be thinking about New York." The man hung up the phone and Kaiba slowly placed his down on the receiver. He then stood up and putting his hands in his pockets strode to the doorway. He placed a big palm on the wood and pushed through. He took long brisk strides as he made his way to the elevator. He again looked at his reflection on the metallic doors of the elevator as he went down. Even in the off-coloring and blurriness his eyes held the same icy blue sharpness. When he reached the ground floor, he strode past a guard and told him to walk with him, which he immediately did, having to run at first to catch up with the CEO who hadn't slowed.

"What can I do for you Mr. Kaiba sir?"

"Pull up a motorcycle."

"Right away Mr. Kaiba." He then proceeded to walk past the reception desk and informed Amy without slowing or turning his head that he'd be out for a while. She started making some sort or protest but Kaiba was already out the door and on the street. He glided down the stairs of the building and turned sharply left on the side walk, where his security guard was pulling up along with a second one. One of the security guards hopped off his motorcycle and Kaiba got on. He put on a helmet that the guard handed him and heard the other's voice through it.

"Where are we going sir?" Kaiba looked straight ahead as he started driving.

"The satellite." The guard looked at Kaiba puzzled as he drove directly behind him. What did the CEO have business going to the satellite?

"Why are we heading for the satellite?"

"I have to speak with some people there."

"Who do you have to speak to?" He smiled,

"Just some old friends" some very old friends he thought as he maneuvered the cycle through the obstacles in the street, old remnants of the earthquake 3 years ago. He wished he could just drive there in a normal car. He thought he looked ridiculous in a suit on a motorcycle, and his tall build made him feel strange. He wasn't comfortable with motorcycles, but due to the state of the streets, they were the fastest mode of transportation, and the only way to get to the satellite.

* * *

The day after the quake the dust began clearing over Domino, but news helicopters were not allowed into the airspace anywhere near the city, a bad storm had come by and no one was allowed into the air. So still the world sat and waited to see what had happened. The storm lasted for four days, one of the worst the area had seen, of course directly after the worst earthquake the world has ever known. The battle city had a history of odd happenings. But after the four days, all that was left was a light drizzle, and the helicopters were cleared. They immediately took to the air and all free eyes in the reyes at the plant looked to a screen or listened to a radio. In the room now were seated Seto Kaiba and Duke Devlin. Kaiba warned Duke that what they saw would be bad, as he saw the many buildings crumbling when he left, but not even he expected what they saw.

As the helicopter flew in, the scene wasn't recognizable. If it weren't for the clear rubble, they wouldn't have even recognized the city. The city had become a series of island in a large, swampy lake in a crater. Not a skyscraper remained standing, and most small building had crumbled themselves or been crushed by their larger collapsing counterparts. The tops of some building could be seen in the water and debris covered the surface of the lake. Fires ignited in the streets and crashed cars lay everywhere. There were some people in the streets waving to the cameras for help, and some could be seen searching, presumably for loved ones. Kaiba had expected the lack of buildings, but he hadn't expected the massive body of water covering much of the city. The camera zoomed in on the streets, if you looked closely at the destruction, you could see bodies littering the ground, but Kaiba preferred to focus on the living ones.

There were survivors.

The next day it was announced that the aftershocks had subsided enough where aid was allowed to enter the city. Immediately upon hearing this, Kaiba jumped into the helicopter and instructed a guard to the controls. As they were about to take off Duke came running through the door and ran up to the chopper.

"Stop the chopper!"

"I'm going to find Mokuba!"

"I know, I'm coming with you!" Kaiba stared at Duke for a moment. Then gave him a head flick signaling him to get into the helicopter. Kaiba had decided that joining the search was, indeed, Duke's intention. He was wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers; not exactly the clothes one stayed to run a corporation in, but good for searching through rubble. He matched Kaiba's own attire; the normally extravagantly dressed CEO was wearing a light green long sleeved t'shirt and plain black pants along with his own set of dark grey sneakers.

Just as Duke was climbing in, the door to the stairwell opened again. At first neither of the men recognized the woman who came running out. But when she reached them and said

"I need to come with you to save my friends!" they both realized.

"Tea?" Tea nodded to Duke's exclamation.

"So what are we waiting for?" And she hopped into the helicopter before Duke. Duke followed and the trio took to the skies. Duke looked to Tea again, and it still shocked him to see her. She looked so different. Her hair was up in a pony, which she never used to do since her hair had been short. Now her hair was longer and back. Her face had gained some wrinkles, a little early being 37, but she looked older than that with the wrinkles. It contrasted the pony strangely. And she had obviously put on some weight. She was by no means fat but she didn't look like her very skinny self of 17 years earlier. And now she wore some strange looking bright pink flats instead of heals, so she appeared much shorter. She looked into Duke's eyes.

"You know Duke, you look so different I wasn't sure it was you, but those eyes give you away."

"Yeah, it was difficult to recognize you too after so long. Did you really come all the way from New York just to try and find your friends?"

"Yeah, I left Maggie, oh what am I saying you don't know Maggie, well I left her in charge of the studio while I'm gone. When I saw the images of Domino on the news I just had to come to find them, but no planes were allowed in until yesterday, and then I had to drive here and arrived just in time!" She then looked away from Duke to Kaiba and looked shocked

"Kaiba, you haven't changed in years! You look exactly the same as the last time I saw you 17 years ago! How is it that a 37 year old looks the same that he did at 20!" It wasn't really a question but Kaiba answered

"Guess I just grew up early."


	4. Chapter 4

Not much happens in this chapter

Chapter 4

The trio continued to Domino in the air again following the parted road he had coming in the other direction as he was fleeing the city.

"Where are we going to land the helicopter?" Tea looked to Kaiba for an answer. Duke also looked puzzled, clearly he hadn't thought of that. With all the buildings leveled and the city surrounded by a lake where were they to land?

"We're not landing." Tea and Duke were surprised by the plain dryness of his answer.

"What do you mean we're not landing how are we supposed to search for them?" Kaiba pulled up a rope ladder from beside him.

"We're climbing down to the street." Both Duke and Tea looked scared. This sounded risky.

"And while your mission is searching for your friends, my top priority is Mokuba. However, I understand that we should stay together so should one of us find who the other is searching for it'll be easier." Tea bit her lip with only slight surprise. Was Kaiba really searching for Mokuba again? Some things really did never changed.

"I would like to search for Mokuba first but I know the two of you won't agree to that and it will take too much time out of your search, so we'll do whatever makes logical sense until they're all found." No party wanted to admit that it was quite likely that they wouldn't be able to find any one of them, or ever see them again. The helicopter later approached the city. It looked even worse in person than it had on TV. The guard looked for an area to set the party down. Kaiba pointed to an area, a slab of concrete that only had one crack down the middle. It was very slanted on one side but the other snapped half was large and almost flat. It wasn't flat or large enough to land the helicopter but it was plenty to drop them off. The helicopter steadied over the clearing and Kaiba opened the door and threw the attached rope ladder off the side. Before it even settled he was on his way down. Duke followed immediately and Tea hesitated a second then joined them on the way down. Kaiba reached the bottom of the ladder and hopped down surveying the area. Was this really his former home? What part of the city had this been? He was glad that he didn't see any bodies within the area, they were probably buried, but he braced himself for them. Dead bodies were nothing new to him. He had been to far too many funerals to be phased by death. He had actually seen many people die in front of him, and been responsible for many deaths as well. But he knew after the fires, the rubble, and 4 days of rain that the bodies would hardly look human. And even from here where none were visible, he could smell death. Duke and Tea hopped of the helicopter and surveyed the area. Tea scrunched her face

"What is that awful smell?" Duke and Kaiba looked at each other. Tea didn't recognize the light smell of the dead, which would only get worse when they actually saw bodies. The scent wasn't even strong now. Kaiba signaled the guard to stay for a moment. And he pulled Duke to the side out from under the helicopter. The wind blew his brown hair. That, along with his attire, made him look like he was even younger. But as always, his eyes gave him age. When he decided that they were far enough away and could talk without screaming he looked at Duke and Duke started,

"Tea won't be able to handle this, she has to go back." Kaiba nodded. He realized that Tea wouldn't be able to handle the things they would see. She'd break down and probably be traumatized the rest of her life. But they couldn't all go back on the helicopter together. The flight took several hours and the search would be delayed to the next day. Kaiba wouldn't allow that.

But Kaiba wasn't actually that concerned about Tea's mental health in the incident. He didn't want Tea to get in the way. Having a breakdown during the search would cause trouble. He couldn't busy himself or Duke with consoling some ignorant girl while his brother was somewhere in this destroyed city. He should have just not let her on the helicopter, but he had been too surprised by his last-minute additions to the search to think through the consequences of allowing her to join. And he was too focused on getting to the city quickly. Why had he let his mind get caught off guard and slip? It was so unlike him even now.

But it wasn't time to dwell. He needed to deal with the problem. Tea couldn't deal with the death and the other things they were sure to see. And she would cause other problems too. In a post disaster city there are no laws. It was likely that Duke and Kaiba wouldn't be bothered. Kaiba was tall, strong, intimidating, and had a deadly look in his eyes. No one would dare challenge him. And Duke was also strong and had a deadly aura. Though he wasn't as tall as Kaiba, his scar made up for it. And even if someone were to bother the two, they could handle themselves in any fight. Plus, both had concealed a gun and a knife. And both would be willing to use them if it came to it.

But Tea. She wasn't overly weak and was strong willed when it came to friendship, but she would be too weak in a situation where friendship was not the answer. Bringing a weak girl into a city without laws or proper shelters was not a good idea, especially when they had to stay through the night, it would take more than a day to search the city for Mokuba, Yugi, Tristan, Joey, and Serenity and find them all. The weak girl would attract unwanted attention. And though Duke and Kaiba would be fine handling themselves, it was a whole other story when they had to protect someone who was useless. But even if Tea were strong and able to defend herself, she wouldn't be able to do what needed to be done if it came down to it. There was no possibility that she could kill somebody. Duke hadn't killed anyone before, but if his life was on the line he definitely would without hesitation. And Kaiba, well he had already killed his own stepfather, twice, even if it was technically indirectly he had still acted knowing Gozaburo would end up dead. Tea would be a problem. Kaiba turned away from his thoughts and back to Duke. He seemed to be thinking of a way out of it as well.

* * *

Kaiba continued on his way to the Satellite. He was going through an intersection when a pair of motorcyclists came flying out of an alleyway and nearly took Kaiba's head off. He glared at the cyclists as they drove away down a side street. But he continued.

"Mr. Kaiba, you must stop while I apprehend those two!" Kaiba kept driving.

"Sir you can't continue right now!"

"Don't tell me what I can't do! And don't _you_ try to give me orders!" Kaiba didn't hear a response from the guard but he knew he was following behind him biting his lip not to protest. He had made the top boss angry. It was not his place to protest. Kaiba smirked. He loved the feeling of power. He hadn't felt it enough recently. He had felt so powerless. He had once been the most powerful man in the city, all cowered at his presence, but that had changed. And he hated it. He was Seto Kaiba, he was supposed to be the top of the ladder. He couldn't be out-powered by anyone. Yet here he was, feeling powerless. He scowled at the thought, no the fact. He had acknowledged his slip in power, but didn't accept it, and it didn't make him happy. Perhaps that was part of the reason he had to leave Domino. He had no power here.

That was actually a lie. He still held a tremendous amount of power. He could still have lives crushed, destroyed if he wanted. Just by asking. Lives could fall before him, people cowered under his stare.

But there were men in the city controlling things. Men who tried to tell him what he couldn't do. He despised it and it made him feel powerless. In the outside world he was still one of the most powerful men in the world: but he didn't feel like it on these streets. He scowled more as he passed a slab of cement. He recognized the area, he knew it well, but he couldn't stop. If he couldn't have things his way, he would at least leave the city on his own terms. And his mission wouldn't be interrupted.

* * *

Kaiba was back on the slab of cement thinking of a way to deal with Tea. It didn't take long for him to figure it out. He was good at thinking on his feet, and he remembered to think it through simply. Though his brain had been delayed on the helicopter, it only took a few moments for him to realize what he had to do about Tea. And it was remarkably simple and easy. He turned away from Duke without saying anything and strode towards Tea. Duke watched him and didn't move, just stood there curious. Kaiba walked directly up to Tea without hesitation. She looked at him surprised and wondering what he was doing. He grabbed an area of her shoulder and squeezed. He eyes rolled up and she collapsed at his feet. Duke watched from the distance in shock as Kaiba then lifted Tea onto his shoulder and carried her back up the ladder to the helicopter. Duke saw him disappear for a moment, probably buckling her in and instructing the guard to take her back even if she protested when she awoke. He then reemerged and climbed back down the ladder. The helicopter lifted and the ladder was lifted back up by the guard with one hand and the other controlling the copter. Duke looked at the helicopter as it flew away. He gave Kaiba an evil grin

"Well that was easy."


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, so this chapter is one of the few that I talk about the characters' relationships, or lack of, over the past 17 years. Some more looking at the characters but also some more plot. (Don't worry, the plot is slowly working its way in haha. In a few chapters the plot will really pick up and all the stuff in 5ds will be explained, I promise! So please keep reading!) :)

Anyway, hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 5

Kaiba and Duke walked to the top of the cement slab and looked around. There wasn't a soul to be seen, and no wonder. It didn't look like any patch of the city had gone uncrushed.

"What part of the city do you think this is?" Kaiba looked out, trying to work out that same question in his mind. Was this really Domino City? It looked more like a war zone. Kaiba hopped over the crack between the split halves of the slab. He eased his way down the steep slope keeping his footing. He reached the bottom to where the slab became covered in sheets of steel and wood and glass, like a slope into a sea. A stop light caught his eye. And he stood near it examining the area. Then he saw what he was looking for.

He made his way along the shore of the slab and knelt down. He grabbed a green rectangle sticking out of the rubble. He had some difficulty pulling it out but managed it. He was stooped down on the balls of his feet with his knees fully bent, holding the bent sign in his hands with one on each end. Duke walked up behind him, still standing and examined his finding. Kaiba then held the sign up, signaling Duke to take it which he did, and Kaiba carefully went wading into the rubble. He used all fours so that if anything gave he wouldn't fall. He moved a few pieces of lighter material to the side until he had almost cleared off the top layer of debris in an almost complete circle within a 15 foot radius of the location that he had found the green sign. He saw another green sign about two feet below. He had to twist his arm at strange angles but he got a grip on the sign. He positioned his other hand to catch anything that removing the sign might cause to fall. He pulled the sign out and read it carefully.

It was a miracle that it was this easy to find both signs. Kaiba had expected it to take hours just to figure out where they were. But here they were only about one hour in. The progress was fantastic. He slowly made his way back to the slab, where Duke offered a hand to help him up, which he denied because he didn't need it. He looked at the second sign himself for another moment. He then turned it around so Duke could read it. Duke looked at the new sign and then held the one is his hand back up. Duke gave a sad smile. He was thrilled to already know their location, but it was bittersweet. Duke looked to his left, east.

To think that this spot was once Domino High School. It was gone. Kaiba caught his attention.

"We're close to Kame Game. We should head there first." The two men stood up and started walking north, down what had been the road leading from the high school to Kame Game. It normally took about a half hour walking between the two, but with the rubble and being sure not to miss the shop it would take hours. Neither of the two expected to find anything if they found the shop. But what else were they to do? It was unlikely anyone at the game shop at the time of the quake 5 days ago would still be there. But it was a start. And it was all they could do. Perhaps someone from the group of friends had gone to the shop after the disaster in hopes of meeting up with the others. But they could think about that once they got there. Right now they had hours between them and the desired location.

"So Kaiba, I've talked to you about business stuff on occasion, but I've never gotten to ask you how your life's been going." Kaiba knew he meant it as a question.

"Nothing's changed." He said matter-of-factly. A little bit had changed, or rather, he was considering change but nothing had actually happened yet, so he was technically telling the truth. But for the major part, his life had remained the same. The only major actual difference was that Mokuba was no longer a little kid but a 32 year old who had his own house instead of living with his brother. Mokuba still adored his older brother the same way he had as a child though. Kaiba decided that that was the reason why he agreed to look for the gang with Duke instead of focusing his energies on Mokuba. Mokuba was an adult, and he could take care of himself. But that didn't mean his protective older brother couldn't try to help him out of a bad situation.

"Ah, come on Kaiba, it's been 17 years, something must have changed."

"Well Mokuba doesn't live with me anymore, but that's about it."

"Well obviously, you never got a wife or anything?"

"Nope."

"Husband?" with a little smirk.

"No Duke, I'm straight."

"Any serious girlfriend?" Kaiba shook his head

"Any girlfriend at all?"

"Nah."

"Well why not? It's not like you couldn't have any girl in the world." Kaiba moved a sheet of bent construction steal out of his way and ducked under it, holding it up for Duke.

"Guess I just prefer being on my own."

"Why would you want to be alone?" Kaiba kept wading through the debris, climbing over fallen statues and doors. After no response from the CEO, Duke pursued an answer

"Well?" Kaiba kept moving junk out of his way. He actually thought to himself. He didn't really know the answer. He was positive he could figure it out if he thought about it but he didn't want to think about it. And he didn't want to be completely on his own. He had actually been thinking about adopting a kid; giving some kid in an orphanage a good home. But as far as his romantic life was concerned, he just let it stay as it was. He liked being on his own. And that was that. No reason was necessary.

"I don't have an answer for you Duke. It's just who I am." Duke didn't seem satisfied but didn't pursue the matter any further. Clearly Kaiba didn't want to talk about it.

"Well, you probably have the right attitude about being alone. You can't get hurt." He paused for a moment to see if the man in front of him had any comment. When he didn't he continued.

"I had gotten married, when I was 25. But two years later when we were taken over by Shroeder Corp she left me, ran off with some big shot from Industrial Illusions. Shows how much she cared." Kaiba didn't respond, which Duke expected. He knew Kaiba would have nothing to say on the matter. He couldn't relate to any aspect of the story. Well except the part of being better left on your own. But then again, Kaiba had always had Mokuba by his side. Duke had more friends than Kaiba did, but he didn't have anyone as close to him as those brothers were to each other. He doubted anyone could. But then again, didn't he just fly into a disaster zone searching for people he hadn't seen in years? He really must be lonely if these are the people he was risking everything for. It made sense for Kaiba to be there. He was searching for his younger brother, the one he had sworn to protect, the one that had been by his side and his only family since he was 8, the one he saw on a near daily basis. But why was Duke searching for these people? He hadn't communicated with a single one of them in at least 5 years. The last time he talked to one of them was accidently running into Tristan on the street while he was in Domino on business. And they only talked for a few minutes. Yet here he was. Had he really grown so lonely?

"So when was the last time you saw these guys?" Duke looked back up at his boss.

"5 years I think. I ran into Tristan on business."

"So why are you looking for them?"

"I was just thinking that myself. And I don't know. Maybe it's because I'd hope they'd do the same for me." No response from Kaiba.

"What about you, have you seen them recently?" Kaiba chuckled, which Duke thought was incredibly out of place. But then again, Kaiba wasn't exactly the chuckling type, so making your way through trash looking for missing, and likely dead, old friends was as fitting a place for his amusement as any.

"Yeah I have seen some of them recently. About 3 months ago Wheeler came to ask me for money to pay the rent." He kept chuckling. And Duke had to crack a smile. This whole situation was absurd.

"Did you?"

"Yeah I gave him the money. He only needed a month's rent."

"How about the others?" Kaiba began laughing; not just chuckling but laughing!

"Yeah, I saw Tristan when Wheeler came asking me for money. I think he was there for backup in case I tried to hurt Wheeler." Duke started laughing too. Not so much at the anecdote but at the fact that this was the first time he really heard Kaiba's laugh. The fact that they were in a practical graveyard made it crazy. It was like some sort of awful anti-joke. Why was Kaiba laughing now? Of all times. And Duke started hacking harder as he realized that he too was laughing here in this place, in this situation. There was further discussion on the changes over the last 17 years. And as they went away from the center of the city where most of the skyscrapers were, they could see the rubble diminishing. They eventually came to a virtual clearing, with a building here and there leaking into the street. Kaiba looked ahead.

"We're here." And Duke looked up to see the Kame Game sign on the ground in front of the familiar yellow building.

Kaiba and Duke stood at the top of a hill of junk. They made their way down the unstable slope to the street below. They both looked at the Kame Game building. A section of the back of the building had slid to the ground and was now in a few large pieces on the street. But a good portion of the building was still there intact. Kaiba took off toward the building at a brisk pace. Duke shook himself out of his trance and followed on Kaiba's heels; having to almost run to keep up.

He approached the door to Kame Game and looked in through the window, no one. He stepped over the fallen sign and tried the door, locked. He looked through the window for traces of recent activity. But before he could figure it out, he saw movement in the reflection over his shoulder. He turned around and looked past Duke. He held a stare and Duke turned. On a gaping second floor of a destroyed building stood a very familiar hair due. Kaiba kept staring

"Long time, no see, Yugi."

* * *

Seto Kaiba was driving to the satellite, but he realized he had to stop in at Kame Game anyway, and he figured better to try now and if he's not there to try again coming back from the Satellite. So Kaiba told his guard that they were stopping there first. He took the helmet off his head and held it in his hand. He looked at the game shop. The back of the building was reconstructed into a better state than it had been even before the disaster. And a new sign proudly stood above the front doors. Kaiba set the helmet down on the motor cycle and walked along the clean white sidewalk towards the front entrance of the shop. As he entered the bell chimed and he was greeted by a young girl in her early twenties.

"Mr. Kaiba! It's a pleasure to see you again!"

"Hello Blair, yes it's been a while since I was here. Is Yugi around?"

"Yes, I'll go tell him you're here." Blair cast a big smile at Kaiba and turned to the stairway at the back of the shop.

Kaiba turned and looked around at the shop. Comparatively to how often he saw Yugi, it actually wasn't that long ago that he'd been here. A few months back. But to a youngster like Blair, of course it had seemed like a while. It wasn't until you started getting older and people started leaving your life that you realized just how fast everything went. Kaiba's eyes scanned the shop over. Gone were the jigsaw puzzles and capsule monsters that Mokuba had liked so much as a kid. Gone was the poster of Black Luster Soldier. Now there were new and strange seeming cards. There were strange looking duel disks too. Kaiba knew Yugi hated it, but no one bought the classics anymore. Yugi had to change the shop to feed himself. Kaiba resented it. The last time he saw Yugi here he had offered to support him. Heaven knew he had enough money. But Yugi refused to have any sort of debt to Kaiba. He knew Kaiba wouldn't hold it over him, but even after Kaiba had moved past his rivalry with Yugi, Yugi still felt a little for his former competitor.

'Funny' Kaiba thought. People had always told him that he was the over competitive, obsessive one. That he was the one who couldn't let go. But he was able to get perspective on everything. And now Yugi was the one that couldn't seem to move on.

Or he could be wrong, maybe offering Yugi money wasn't about being kind at all. Perhaps it was just a way to feel superior to the 'King of Games.' He smiled. It was probably the second one. Nothing else had changed about him, why should that?

Blair came back down the stairs and through the little red door.

"Mr. Kaiba, Yugi will be down in a minute." Kaiba turned towards her and simply nodded as he continued examining the shop.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey so this chapter's a little shorter than they have been but I hope you enjoy anyway and remember to review! As always, thanks for reading!**

* * *

Chapter 6

Kaiba stared at Yugi atop the hill of trash. Yugi seemed shocked to see him. Then from somewhere on the hill out of sight behind Yugi came the very familiar Brooklyn accent

"Hey! I'd recognize that voice anywhere! Is that rich boy?" And Joey came into view on top of the hill. Joey looked similar to his former self. His hair was in the same cut, though a little more disheveled from the last few days, it was normally slightly neater than he wore it as a teenager, but it wasn't all that much better. He had the starts of a small beard forming, more of a five-o'clock shadow really, and it was hard to see being blonde but it was there. His clothes hung loosely on him and he actually looked skinnier than he had as a kid. Kaiba had seen him a few months earlier but that time he had been dressed in a light blue dress shirt and dark blue tie with his hair neatly combed (Yeah, wearing all blue when asking Kaiba for money definitely was a coincidence). Now he looked more like his old self. And he still had the same huge goofy smile. Yugi had the same hair as always. And he was still incredibly short. But he looked more like Atem now. His face had grown taught; it had more age and experience; and he didn't look so innocent. He no longer looked like a baby panda.

"Nice threads richy!" and Joey started climbing down the slope. Yugi followed. When Joey reached the bottom he walked straight up to Kaiba and looked up into his eyes making the best mock intimidation face he could,

"Money don't matter here no more buddy. Now you're one of us!" Joey held a closed grin, then shifted his gaze to Duke. He looked puzzled as he looked the man up and down. Then he reached his eyes looking at them through the glasses and his own popped.

"Duke!?"

"The one and only." Joey gave him a big but quick hug. Duke didn't even have a chance to react. Joey then grabbed his arms halfway between the shoulder and elbow and held him at arm's length, looking him up and down.

"Duke man, haven't seen you in forever. Amazing what time does huh? I mean look you're even wearing glasses!" Then Yugi arrived.

"Hey Yuges, look it old Duke Devlin." Yugi gave Duke a sad smile and diverted his eyes. He then looked back up to Duke and Kaiba

"Where did you guys come from?" Duke jumped in to answer before Kaiba had a chance.

"We were actually outside the city when it happened, well I was, Kaiba was actually flying out of the city. But they just cleared aid to come in this morning, so we flew in to find you guys. You're the first we've found. We're still looking for Serenity, Tristan, and Mokuba. Are any of them with you?" The two shook their heads. And Joey looked solemn at the mention of his little sister being somewhere in the city. Then Kaiba stepped in

"Do you know where they were at the time?" Joey answered

"No dice… Sorry for taking your thing Duke." And he chuckled along with Duke. Kaiba and Yugi stood there. Joey gave Kaiba another big smile,

"So Kaiba, I hope you know I won't be paying you back now."

* * *

"So, Mr. Kaiba, what are you here for today? If it's to offer Yugi to help him again he won't take it you know." She stared at him dreamily. He had been oh so generous and gallant. Oh she just knew he was a kind loving soul!

"Nah, just here to tell him something. Though I will try to offer him help again."

"Tsk tsk tsk. You know he won't take it." Kaiba thought to himself again. This girl was smart. Still immature with age and silly at times, he even knew that she had a crush on him. She reminded him of Rebecca Hawkins and the way she obsessed over Yugi. She could be annoying at times but she was in the right place and she would accomplish things once she got a little more mature and experienced. But not if she stayed here in Domino. This city was sinking, there was nothing left here for a young girl like her who hoped to one day be something.

"You should consider leaving Domino." Blair looked shocked. She loved this city. When she came here at 13 after graduating from the duel academy to pursue a dueling career, the pro league hadn't worked out for her. But she had met so many friends here. Domino was her home.

"Why do you say that?"

"There's nothing left here for you. This city is falling apart. It isn't the great place it used to be." He stared at the wall of the shop, not at anything in particular. Then the back door of the shop opened.

"Hello Kaiba, come in."

Yugi held the little red door open for Kaiba and held his hand out to motion that he should go in. He walked through the door and started up the stairs where he reached a hall. He opened up a door and stood on one side of the room waiting for Yugi to enter. Yugi came in and sat on the green couch.

"Kaiba take a seat." Kaiba stood against the wall facing Yugi's side. Yugi turned his head towards him.

"I'm leaving Domino." Yugi looked surprised for a moment. Then thoughtful, and he looked down. He folded his hands, crossed his legs, and put his hands around his knee. He bit his lip. He wished he had tea to drink right now. It would have looked so much cooler, thinking while drinking from a mug of tea. Yugi looked back up at Kaiba.

"You finally decided to go?"

"Yeah." It sounded too much like his conversation this morning. It irritated him.

"This city is sickening now. I can't stay. I'm taking the company with me." Yugi leaned back on the sofa and rested his elbow in his palm with the other hand under his chin. Kaiba realized Yugi wasn't going to speak and talked again

"I think you and Blair should leave too. Your whole group, before it's too late." Yugi considered the last part carefully. Would it be too late to leave at some point? But also, would he be able to return. What about his friends? He couldn't leave the place where his friends were. He couldn't leave them here. And if the city did in fact become torturous to live in and it did grow too late to leave, that was even more reason for him to stay if his friends chose to.

"If they go, I'll go, any one of them chooses to stay though…" He didn't need to finish.

"Do what's smart Yugi. Now that Atem's gone, this isn't about destiny or heart of the cards anymore. You can't just believe now. You have to use your head." And Kaiba strode out across the room, down the stairs, through the shop, and back to the motorcycle. His guard stepped away from his post at the door to the shop and made his way back to the motor cycle.

* * *

"Hey Kaiba, so I know that you're worried about your brother and all…" Joey walked with Kaiba collecting any wood they could find to make a fire so they could cook some food. He kicked a can and flipped his hair out of his face.

"But I wouldn't talk about it too much." He looked like he wanted to rub the back of his neck but his hands were preoccupied.

"Yugi's gramps didn't make it." His face was solemn. Kaiba's serious expression didn't change. He felt for Yugi losing a loved one, but he was actually surprised that Yugi's gramps had still been alive. He thought he was already long dead.

Joey seemed upset over the death too. Kaiba knew that Joey's father had been… well not a proper father. He himself had plenty of experience with that. Joey spent a lot of his time with Yugi and his grandfather. He was probably like family to him. He knew a thing or two about losing family. And it didn't help that he still didn't know where his sister was. Kaiba himself didn't know where his younger sibling was in this desolate town. He bent down to grab another piece of wood.

"He lived a long happy life. He wouldn't want to see his home like this." Joey bit his lip and thought. He knew what Kaiba said was true, but at the same time it felt like he was trying to convince him that Gramps' death was a good thing. Maybe he should listen to him though. He did have more experience with the death of loved ones. Then again, look how he turned out: cold, distant, uncompassionate… did he really want to end up like Kaiba? But maybe to survive this whole thing in this disaster in this city without laws he'd have to be more like Kaiba. The two arrived back at the shop and dropped the wood while Duke and Yugi were still out. Joey sat down cross legged and leaned back with straight arms.

No, he couldn't think that way. He couldn't end up like Kaiba. Kaiba was a complete jerk, even if it helped him survive, would he want to live in a world where he was like Kaiba? Kaiba was a jerk, he was the most brutal, distant, arrogant, egocentric, uncaring –Joey's thought was interrupted by movement diagonally behind him. Joey turned to look at Kaiba and saw him sitting on the ground and noticed that his hand was on his shoulder; he looked straight ahead with the same sternness as always. Joey turned back around. His hand felt warm on his shoulder.


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay! Next chapter. This one has more actual action and plot and less character stuff so hopefully you guys like that. Anyway, enjoy and remember to review!**

* * *

Chapter 7

Kaiba was back on the road and approaching the bridge to the satellite. He saw smoke coming from the direction he was heading but that was common in these times. There was always smoke coming from somewhere. There were a lot of protests or homeless people on the streets making fires to stay warm. What he didn't expect was his guard's voice.

"Mr. Kaiba, sir, I've just been informed that there is a riot on the bridge leading to the satellite. No one's allowed in the area." Kaiba let his foot off the acceleration but didn't hit the break. He just sort of let his motorcycle slow down the road until it reached a stop. Once it did he took off his helmet and shook his hair. His guard dismounted his motorcycle and walked up to his side. Kaiba put his helmet back on. He didn't even look at his guard as he sternly ordered

"Stay here" and went speeding off, leaving his guard baffled in the dust.

* * *

Duke, Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba were gathered in the storage room of the game shop. They had a small fire going in the middle of the room, and each was seated in a corner facing it. Above the fire was an upside down metal funnel, leading to a series of broken and rusty pipes that led out a hole in the wall of the room that had been created during the quake that led to outside. The contraption was suspended by some wires hanging from the ceiling. It was a creation of Kaiba's so that they could stay in the relative safety of the room during the night without freezing to death or suffocating from smoke inhalation. Each of the group had a blanket or two curled around them.

"So Joey, what's been going on the past few days?"

"Well, I was over here with Yugi when it happened. It's a miracle this whole place didn't fall apart. But anyway we've pretty much been just searching around the general area for wood, and food, and water, and people. We've found some food. That place a few building down used to be a little market, and it was only one floor so we don't have to dig all that much to find stuff." Joey went quiet staring into the fire for a moment remembering some of the dead "stuff" they had found. Yugi remembered too, and Duke and Kaiba could tell that the two had found that "stuff" along with what they had wanted.

"They had lots of nice, canned food too." He nodded toward a little pile of cans in Duke's corner. There was also water in the corner.

"Lots of bottle water too. We have more bottled water around the place. We've got most of it hidden though. Water is valuable now." He faced down and closed his eyes and a little smirk formed. He looked back up at Kaiba and his big goofy grin formed

"Water is money now! Which means I'm waaaaaay richer than you Kaiba!" Kaiba continued staring at the fire. Joey turned back to Duke.

"Water is life here. You need to keep it safe."

"So why do you have that water in the box out there in the open?"

"See Duke, first off, it's not exactly in the open. It's in a box with a lid. Secondly, if any thugs see us alive here, they'll know that we have some way of getting water. Unlike them we can't exactly beat others up for it." It was true. Though Joey didn't like to admit it, him being on the scrawny side, though he was a great street fighter, he was also getting older, and little Yugi couldn't win in a fight for water in a lawless town.

"So if we hid everything, they'd look for it and find it all. But if we put a small amount of it slightly hidden it that there box, than they'll figure that's all we've got and be on their way." Joey crossed his arms, closed his eyes, held his head up and smiled; looking very proud to have thought of that. To be honest, Kaiba was surprised too. That actually had been pretty smart, especially for an idiot like Joey. But he couldn't deny that Joey had street smarts. Joey had lived on the streets a lot as a kid, running out or being forced out of the house to avoid his abusive, drunken father. He had probably learned that trick young as a way of protecting valuables. And Kaiba had no doubt it worked well against idiot thugs. Still, they were a lot better off now with Kaiba and Duke there. People wouldn't be as likely to bother them.

"So Kaiba?" Kaiba looked away from his thoughts and the fire to Joey who sat across from him.

"What are your plans for getting us out of here?"

"In another three days the helicopter will come back where it dropped us off."

"Where did it drop you off?"

"Back where Domino High School used to be." Joey nodded and stared back into the fire.

"One of us should stay awake. We can take turns sleeping." The group looked at Kaiba and nodded.

"I'll stay up first." Duke volunteered. Then Kaiba volunteered to take the last shift. Joey claimed second, leaving Yugi with the third. And so, Kaiba, Joey, and Yugi slowly fell asleep and Duke stared into the fire, listening to the others breath.

* * *

Kaiba's motorcycle sped down the bumpy road toward the bridge to the satellite. As he got closer he could start hearing the shouts of protest on the bridge. He came out from a series of buildings into the clearing along the water to see many police barriers and police motorcycles littering the entrance to the bridge. The protestors stood about halfway across and Kaiba scowled. This wasn't right. He stopped his cycle and looked across the water to the satellite and to the protestors.

The police were trying to hold them back with anything they had, but there were too many of them and they started making progress across the bridge.

Then it happened. The sound of a round being fired resounded across the water. Screams of shock and terror erupted from the crowd as they became panicked. Kaiba saw the chaos break out. People were running, jumping off the bridge into the water. From the distance he saw a few men tackle one of the police, only to immediately be executed. The gun shots continued. It was pure chaos. Bodies started toppling and blood started flowing into the lake. Then an explosion went off in the crowd: a grenade; shortly followed by more. In the smoke, the policemen at the front lines jumped onto their motorcycles and sped back to the mainland, off the bridge and onto the shore. They gathered and watched the smoke, apparently waiting for orders from the commanding officer. After a few moments he spoke

"Ready men?" They all nodded. He nodded back

"5. 4. 3. 2…" Some buttons were pressed, some ears were covered, and a huge ball of flames and debris leaped from the center of the bridge. A light wind came from the explosion and flames engulfed the collapsing structure. Chunks of metal crashed into the lake and sent waves churning the red water. The screams were muffled by the smoke. The water turned a sickly brick color that slowly spread away from the site of the riot.

Kaiba stared at the destruction. He just watched for a while, knowing he could do nothing. These riots had become increasingly common. But this time was different. The police had finally destroyed the bridge, the only bridge, connecting Neo Domino to the satellite. He looked back across the smoky water to the satellite. Now it wouldn't be as easy to get there. He'd still reach it, but it wouldn't be as easy.

* * *

Duke heard something outside the shop. He held his breath and listened closely to the voices of the men just on the other side of the wall. He tried to wake up Kaiba as quietly as he could. His eyes slowly opened as Duke shook him. His eyes looked up concerned and Duke motioned for him to stay quiet. Kaiba stayed silent and himself listened and heard the voices. He and Duke then woke up Yugi and Joey. As they were waking up the voices grew louder until they were directly on the other side of the wall and slowly moved around the building toward the entrance.

Kaiba and Duke silently took the guns out of their pockets. Joey next took out a kitchen knife, and Duke took him knife out and gave it to Yugi. The group shifted to either side of the door and waited, listening to the voices, muffled but now distinguishable.

"Door's locked."

"Well what can you see inside?"

"Uh… looks like there's some duel disks. Could we get anything out of those?"

"We don't have enough room for those right now, we'll come back for those later. Anything else?" There was a pause, presumably as the man looked around the shop.

"I don't see anything. Let's just head back, we'll come back later."

"Well what if there's stuff in that back room there?"

"Which one, there's two?"

"Either, I mean it's a shop there must be money at least."

"We don't want money you idiot! How many times do we have to go over this before it gets through your thick, stupid head?"

"Look, all I'm saying it things won't be like this forever, and no one is going to do anything about any money that's stolen now, but it will pay off in the future."

"It won't pay off if you're dead smart one."

"Yeah, he's right. Don't want some nut to shoot you over money when it doesn't mean anything. We've just got to focus on survival right now."

"K well when we come back tomorrow for the disks, I get to take all the money."

"Yeah that's fine as long as we're getting something else out of it. As long as you don't have to make a separate trip."

"Come one you two, let's get out of here."

The group held their breath as they listened to the men walk away. They stayed still and silent even after the voices were no longer audible. Kaiba looked at his watch.

"Ok Joey, your turn." Joey seemed confused for a moment but then understood. He sat down with his legs crossed as the others went back to sleep. Joey's shift was less eventful. He heard something outside at one point, but he quickly realized that it had just been the wind. So his shift ended and he woke up Yugi to take over. Joey was quickly asleep, leaving Yugi alone.

Yugi still felt groggy from being woken up. He was just in the middle of a good dream too. He and his grandfather had just found an old Egyptian relic in the game shop and he was really close to completing it.

Yugi thought back to the millennium puzzle that his grandfather had given him as well. He started daydreaming about ancient Egypt and fighting evil with his duel deck. He didn't even notice that his eyes were slowly closing, and he was falling back asleep until it was too late and he was out.

* * *

**Again, thanks for reading and remember to review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey do you think I should give the chapters names aside from number? It's just a small detail but I'd like to know what you all think. Thanks again.**

* * *

Chapter 8

The group awoke startled as glass shattered and angry footsteps approached the door. Without thinking Kaiba and Duke grabbed their guns and aimed at the door. Joey and Yugi moved out of the way as the group heard the loud pierce of a gunshot shooting the lock off the door. The door swung open wide and Duke fired first with the better angle, and Kaiba soon following. The big, angry man collapsed.

"D's down!" The group sat silently, Duke and Kaiba aiming at the door.

"Over in that room! Someone's got a gun!"

"You idiot leave him behind he's dead! Just grab the stuff and leave!" The group heard footsteps outside running out of the building. They all sat there panting and sweating for a few minutes. Then Kaiba finally lowered his gun, followed by Duke.

"Ok, let's see the damage." Kaiba, Joey, and Duke slowly stood up and cautiously walked out the door, stepping over the body they had shot down. Upon leaving the room, they saw that the glass at the entrance to the shop was shattered and everywhere on the floor. The case was shattered and the duel disks, money, and water were gone. Joey went to the back of the shop.

"K, they didn't go into the back."

"Yeah and they didn't get all the water, some of it's still here."

"Well no sense standing out here. Let's get back in the room for the night." Duke started walking back toward the room. The other two turned around as well. They walked back into the small room and sat down on the ground. Joey looked around confused.

"Uh, hey guys… Where's Yugi?" The other two then realized that Yugi wasn't in the room. Kaiba stood up and walked back into the shop.

"Yugi?" He was answered by silence.

"Yugi!" He said it louder this time. Still no answer. He rushed to the front of the shop where the windows had been broken through.

"Joey, you check the back!" Joey was already on it. Kaiba climbed through the shattered window into the moonlight. He looked around the destroyed buildings for any sign of the spiky haired man, with no results. He ran further outside into the open.

The moon shined through the windows of broken buildings onto the CEO. The wind blew hard and it whipped Kaiba's face with his hair. The clouds moved swiftly in the sky, passing wispily in front of the full moon. Joey came jumping through the window and went sprinting into the opening to Kaiba's side.

"YUGI! WHERE ARE YOU YUGI?!" Joey's shouts were carried away in the wind. He ran to the mountain of rubble and scrambled to the top. Where he looked around and continued shouting. Kaiba stood for a moment then ran after Joey. He reached the top of the mountain of rubble and tackled Joey. He pinned him down and snarled at him.

"Shut up Wheeler! Yugi's not gonna answer. You'll attract more thugs with all that yelling."

"I don't care! Yugi's gonna answer. He has to! If I don't yell the thugs will get HIM!"

"Shut up! You'll get us all killed."

"Make me money bags. Sorry if I care enough about someone to risk my life for them!" Kaiba used his left hand to grab Joey by his shirt collar and proceeded to use his right to punch him across the face.

"You think I haven't risked my life for people I love!" Joey coughed to the side and slowly turned his head back toward the man above him.

"Fine. Sure you've risked your life for Mokuba. But that's not caring about people. You ONLY care about yourself and your brother. You don't actually care about anyone else. Just cause of Mokuba, you're still greedy and selfish!" Joey trembled with the words he shouted. Kaiba then punched Joey across the face again. He glared at Joey and spoke quietly and coldly through clenched teeth.

"Be. Quiet." He then started hissing through his teeth.

"If you don't shut up, we'll all die. And we'll never find Yugi, Tristan, Mokuba, or Serenity."

"Don't bring Serenity into this! You can't ma_" Kaiba punched Joey again. He started coughing to the side. Gasping for breath. He slowly turned his head back toward Kaiba, with blood dripping down his cheek from the corner of his mouth and red eyes.

"You can't make me choose between Yugi and Serenity!" Kaiba stood and gripped Joey's shirt collar as he lifted him off the ground.

"It would be pointless to shut you up now. Anyone left alive in the city must have heard you by now mutt. You're useless." Kaiba was holding Joey up above the ground so his legs were dangling. He held him and threw him down into the rubble down the hill. He looked at him for a moment and turned around and started walking back down the hill of debris, leaving Joey laying on the ground coughing blood. Kaiba was at the bottom of the hill when Joey got up and ran to the peak. He clenched his fists and shouted back at Kaiba.

"You know Kaiba, when I saw you a few months ago, I thought you hadn't changed at all in the 17 years! Then when you agreed to look for our friends with us, I decided that you had changed for the BETTER! Now, I realize how wrong I was. You've changed for the WORSE! I don't think you even care about MOKUBA anymore! All you care about is _yourself_!" Kaiba had been standing at the bottom of the hill, just looking up at the sky. Now he started walking back toward the front of the shop, where Duke was standing silently, biting him lip. Kaiba had almost reached Duke when Joey continued screaming.

"I would never sacrifice Yugi. You can't make me choose between Yugi and Serenity. I would never abandon either of them!" Kaiba turned around swiftly with clenched fists.

"Yugi abandoned you, you idiot! He fell asleep during his shift then ran away so he wouldn't mess anything else up! But you know what? It was pointless because YOU'RE still here to mess everything up!" Joey stood still. His eyes widened and his fists unclenched. His mouth opened and his trembling grew stronger. Had Yugi really run away? Of course he had. He wanted to protect all of them. But he couldn't honestly think that they would just leave him out there. How could Yugi be so stupid.

Kaiba turned back around to Duke. "If he doesn't come to his senses are you going with me or him?" Duke continued biting his lip and he looked off into the distance. He looked back up at Joey on top of the hill, standing with his head bowed and his unruly blonde hair blowing to the side. Duke felt himself pitying him. He wasn't thinking straight. Kaiba walked back into the shop and grabbed some water. He handed Duke what he had and walked back inside to grab more. When he walked back out he heard Joey speak.

"You're right Kaiba. We need to get out of here and if Yugi chooses to stay behind…" He stood silent. Kaiba nodded and looked back to Duke.

"Come on, we have to get out of this place quickly." Duke didn't respond but Kaiba knew that Duke agreed and would follow. He started climbing back up the hill toward Joey, Duke following closely behind. They reached Joey and walked past. After a moment Joey started following as they descended down the slope.

"We need to get away from here so that no one who heard the shouting will happen upon us. Once we're far enough away we'll find a shelter to stay until sunrise. At dawn, we'll set back out. Wheeler, where would Tristan and Serenity have been?"

"Tristan would have been on his lunch break, he could have been anywhere within a few miles of his work."

"Where did he work?"

"He worked at that motorcycle shop across town." Kaiba thought of how far away that was. It would take a few days to trek there.

"What about Serenity?"

"She'd be at the elementary school. She worked as a second grade teacher there. It's closer than Tristan's place and it's on the way to your mansion if Mokuba was there."

"Yes, Mokuba was there at the time. So we'll go to the elementary school, then the mansion, then the motorcycle shop."

"Agreed."

"Agreed." Just then the saw some lights off in front of them moving toward them. A group of motorcycles stopped in an opening a way in front of them.

"Ah great."

"Quiet Wheeler." The group tiptoed off to the side to hide behind a destroyed car hoping the gang would leave soon.

"Kaiba, what are we supposed to do now."

"Shut up and wait." He pulled out his gun and leaned against the car, hardly breathing. Joey sat in between Kaiba and Duke, since he didn't have a gun. And Duke sat on the other side, his gun in his hands. The trio sat, listening.

"Well well well, what do we have here? Some punk walking around by himself at night in this trash of a city? Look at you you're not even tall or muscular. And no weapon? You got some things to learn!" They could hear that the man had just hit his victim.

"One hit and already on the ground? Pathetic." There were a few moments where no words were spoken, only the sound of shuffling and stuggling.

"You don't even have anything good on you. No water, or food. Where were you going at this time of night." Silence.

"Answer my question punk!" More silence. The group could hear that the man had just kicked his victim.

"Take care of this loser, men. He's worthless to us." They heard the struggle as the gang viciously attacked their victim. For a few more minutes, the group sat, listening to the assault happening on the other side of the car. Joey bit down on his tongue as he resisted the urge to interfere. He realized how stupid it would be. But his guilt ate him from the inside as he let a man be beaten within earshot. And he just sat there comforting himself for allowing the man to go without help. Telling himself over and over that he wouldn't be able to help anyway.

Finally the noises subsided. And the lights shown past the rubble and the cycles turned away. The group sat still for a few more minutes; they had been doing that a lot recently. Then Duke stood slowly with his gun raised and started walking towards where the men had been. Kaiba and Joey followed. They approached the clearing and started walking through to the other side. Kaiba and Duke walked past the bleeding man on the ground. But Joey set down the water bottles on the ground and walked toward the man. Duke noticed and turned toward Joey.

"Joey, leave him." Joey didn't listen and he kneeled beside the puddle of blood coming from the man. He put his fingers on his neck to search for a pulse. He dropped his head and his long hair completely covered his face.

"He's dead."

"Joey, come on we have to keep moving."

"Duke." Joey almost whimpered. His voice was shaky and he looked small and week kneeling next to a pool of blood reflecting the moonlight. Duke listened quietly.

"This guy… He could have just as easily been Yugi. And we just sat there…" Joey's head bowed down further. His voice had just been a ghost, barely audible with the wind.

"Joey. There's nothing we could have done. If we had tried to interfere we'd just be there with him in our own pools of blood."

"If it were Yugi I'd rather die with him than let him die without doing a thing." Duke was nervous talking to Joey. He wasn't quite sure how to deal with it.

"Joey, look this is the way this city is now… If we want to survive we have to be strong and keep moving."

"But do I want to survive if I have to do it like this?" Duke didn't know what to say. He just stood there with his gun at his side and used his left hand to adjust his glasses. He couldn't speak.

"Is it really worth living like this? I may survive… I may live… But can I LIVE with _myself_? You know what Kaiba?" at this Joey lifted his head to face the two. He brushed his hair out of his face to reveal two large eyes on the verge of tears and a very pale face.

"Maybe… Maybe you're wrong. Maybe Yugi didn't leave because he didn't want to mess things up. Maybe… he left because… he couldn't live the way you two are living. I mean, you killed that guy. And you didn't even react afterwards. Maybe Yugi just couldn't become a murderer. He'd rather be on his own than kill."

"Joey, that man would have killed us. We have to stick together. And if a few bad guys have to die in order to save our friends, we're willing to do that. And if we hadn't killed him, he'd probably end up killing lots of innocent people after us. We're not the bad guys here Joey."

"But it's not just the killing, I mean, we just sat there cowering. We might as well have killed this man ourselves."

"Joey, there's nothing we could have done. He'd have died anyway. We've already been over this. Now come on, we have to keep moving if we want to save Tristan, Mokuba, and Serenity." Joey's pale face turned red and he clenched his teeth, his limp hands formed fists and fire entered his teary eyes.

"You think you can just make me forget everything just cause you mention Serenity? I KNOW she's in danger! You don't have to remind me." He choked on the last words and looked away as tears started flowing down his cheeks and sending off ripples in the blood. He began shaking with sobs. Duke couldn't speak again.

"Get up Wheeler, we have to leave." Kaiba's icy, unforgiving voice was shocking in comparison to Duke's more compassionate sternness. It caught Joey's attention and he looked back at Kaiba with a teary face with more streaming from his red eyes.

"I'm having a moment here money bags just give me a minute!"

"That's precisely the problem, mutt, is that you're having a moment. We don't have a minute. Now come on." Kaiba's voice could stab through any man and force him into submission, but Joey just continued sobbing and started screaming again.

"I CAN'T!" At that moment Kaiba knew he couldn't have Joey constantly screaming and stopping in clear openings. He couldn't have this. Joey's eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped as he saw Kaiba's normal cold face behind a barrel pointed directly at him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Woah I haven't updated this in awhile! Sorry about that and sorry that this chapter is kinda short but thanks for reading and please review :)**

* * *

Chapter 9

Joey stared wide-eyed down the barrel. He was instantly quieted and couldn't move.

"Now mutt. I'm leaving. I don't know if Duke's coming with me but at this point I don't really care. If I stay here with you you're gonna get me killed." His eyes narrowed as he lowered his gun.

"Goodbye Wheeler." He turned around and started walking away. He then stopped in his tracks and his head dropped to look at the ground before it moved to look over his shoulder.

"And if you think of following me screaming like that I won't hesitate to shoot you." He kept walking down through the clearing. Joey sat in the dirt shocked. His tearstained face followed the CEO as he walked out of sight into the night. Duke stood at the corner of the building deliberating with himself. Joey was one of the people he came to save, so could he just leave him for dead? But if he stayed with Joey would he be killed? Whose life was more important? He hadn't even seen these people in years. Surely his own life should come before Joey's… He stood at the corner of the building completely still looking at the ground. Joey saw the conflict in his face and silent tears started flowing down his face into the pool of blood.

"I understand Duke. In a situation like this, you do have to make tough choices. And I choose my sister. Yugi made his own choice too." He stood up shaking, his knees threatening to give out beneath him. He slowly made his way over to Duke.

"Will you stay with me buddy?" He put a hand on his shoulder. Duke peered at it over his rimless glasses and smiled sadly. He took his opposite hand and placed it on Joey's and nodded.

"Good, then let's get going. And if I start screaming like that again…" He swallowed.

"Do what you have to do." There was a deep grimness in his voice. Duke accepted without saying a word, although he doubted he could kill one of the very people he came to save, he saw no point in arguing. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

"Should we just take shelter here?" Joey looked around at the building, many still had complete rooms that hadn't had walls destroyed.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. How about that one?" Duke pointed to a building that resembled all the others. Joey nodded and the two made their way in.

Kaiba climbed over a fallen stop light post. Being used to deprivation of sleep, he was easily adaptable and had gotten enough sleep back at Kame Game to last him. In fact, he decided he was better off on his own. He had always operated that way and it got him to CEO and multibillionaire as a child. Why should this mission be any different? He grunted as he thought of the others. They would have just slowed him down anyway. He had finally accepted working together with them for something and look what they did! Yugi falls asleep on his shift, nearly getting them killed, then runs off in the night and Joey starts screaming like he welcomes death. Who knows, maybe he did. But it didn't matter. Kaiba didn't. Kaiba scowled again. Why had he even thought teaming up with them was a good idea? Had he really changed that much over the years? He didn't think so: just a momentary error in judgment due to the situation. That must be it. He had reached another bad area of the city and it was difficult to get through it. But he would manage. He was sure he would manage.

* * *

Kaiba stood with his hands in his pockets and glared down at the murky water now running with blood and dust from the explosion on the bridge. His kicked a pebble into the murky depths and watched it disappear from sight immediately upon entry. He glared at where the pebble had disappeared and grunted. He slowly raised his head and looked back across to the satellite. He had to get there. He just had to. He couldn't let anything as stupid as a destroyed bridge stop him.

But he knew that air travel between the two regions was outlawed and same with water. But he also knew that there was a thriving underground business of transporting people and goods between the two regions illegally. He didn't mind the idea of breaking the law, it's not like he hadn't before. He just didn't like the idea of being around those type of people in that type of place. Being stuck in a smelly old moldy boat with a bunch of drug dealers or weapons dealers or whatever it might be in the middle of the night wasn't his ideal situation. But he had to get to the satellite, and contrary to his nature, he couldn't be flashy and would have to do it discreetly; even if it meant going on a black market boat.

He kicked another stone mindlessly into the water without looking down. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. He could probably find a boat that just transported family across the lake. Though not as prominent or frequent as the other business across the waters, it wasn't uncommon. The only problem with people boats were that when caught no one really bothered fighting. On a black market boat, there are always guns and even if the police catch you, you can usually get away by shooting or bribing. Police love bribes from a few illegals. But on a group boat, no bribes because there's too many people, and none aboard get violent for fear of hurting their loved ones. Maybe he should go on an arms boat afterall.

He squatted down on the ground and picked up a stone in his hand. He looked at the grey patchy texture and tossed it up and down in his hand, feeling its weight. He held it still and stared at it for a moment before letting it tumble out of his hand and back to the ground with a thud. He then surveyed the ground and found a flat rock which he flipped over a few times in his long skinny fingers and then skipped across the water. It looked like a stone just bouncing off a flat, brick brown sheet of plastic only distorting it behind it, like stretching saran wrap. It made a hollow light noise with each hop until it finally submerged itself far out and disappeared silently from sight. Kaiba eyes the spot where it disappeared and sighed, closing his eyes. He held them closed and stood. They then opened slowly and he turned around to go back to Kaiba Corporation headquarters.

* * *

The sun had begun to rise and Kaiba was sure he was almost at the mansion. He stumbled across the golden ruin scape and he couldn't help but think it looked Egyptian like the millennium items. The odd angles of everything and the confused ruins all golden in the rising sunlight. And though he had never been in the Pharaoh's soul room himself, Yugi had described it to him a while back. And looking around now, he was pretty sure it must have looked similar to this only darker. He glanced over at the fiery orb of light rising in the distance and the pink and orange clouds. He could only see it through some gaps in the destruction he was under but it was enough for him to see and for some reason in his mind it triggered his eyes to open wide and remember: he hadn't brought any water with him. He cursed himself in his mind and decided to immediately get to some clearing of any sort and find clean water to drink. If that failed he would simply make a make-shift filter from whatever he could find. He'd be fine. He knew he'd be fine.

As the sun rose Kaiba finally made it to a clearing and searched for anything that would hint at water. Finding nothing he decided to check buildings that weren't entirely destroyed. He looked for places where people would keep water and found none, until the last building he checked, where he found a refrigerator. Upon opening the door, a disgusting sent came out and he saw some questionable items, but there were a few bottles of water and juice boxes, which he took of course. He tried to ignore the scent of decomposing flesh as he left the home.

Around noon time, it was clear to Kaiba that he had reached his destination. He looked ahead to see the destroyed remains of the Kaiba mansion. It was easy to spot because of the large property being mostly trees and grass. He was pleased that he had arrived but also apprehensive. He began walking towards the crumbled remains of the place he had lived for 27 years; though he hadn't actually spent that much time there, he spent most of his time at the corporation and second to that going somewhere across the globe. But it was still the place that was his house. The place he didn't have to worry about being professional; well after Gozaburo died anyway, before that he had to remain professional there. But it was still eerie seeing it in pieces on the ground; surrounded by toppled trees and flooded muddy grass. Kaiba took a deep breath and began approaching the establishment.

He didn't know what he'd find inside. He knew he'd probably find some dead guards and security. Ideally he'd find Mokuba alive. Worst case scenario he'd find Mokuba_... He couldn't finish the thought. But he knew what probably would happen was he wouldn't find Mokuba at all. He didn't want to admit it, but even though Mokuba was in town visiting, he probably wasn't in the mansion at the time. He did have business to attend to after all. And Mokuba took a late lunch break when working, so he'd be at work instead of at the mansion eating lunch. But Mokuba also wasn't working in the headquarters building, so the mansion was his only chance.

Kaiba flicked his head to get some of his hair out of his face. He could probably use a haircut.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Joey stared wide-eyed down the barrel. He was instantly quieted and couldn't move.

"Now mutt. I'm leaving. I don't know if Duke's coming with me but at this point I don't really care. If I stay here with you you're gonna get me killed." His eyes narrowed as he lowered his gun.

"Goodbye Wheeler." He turned around and started walking away. He then stopped in his tracks and his head dropped to look at the ground before it moved to look over his shoulder.

"And if you think of following me screaming like that I won't hesitate to shoot you." He kept walking down through the clearing. Joey sat in the dirt shocked. His tearstained face followed the CEO as he walked out of sight into the night. Duke stood at the corner of the building deliberating with himself. Joey was one of the people he came to save, so could he just leave him for dead? But if he stayed with Joey would he be killed? Whose life was more important? He hadn't even seen these people in years. Surely his own life should come before Joey's… He stood at the corner of the building completely still looking at the ground. Joey saw the conflict in his face and silent tears started flowing down his face into the pool of blood.

"I understand Duke. In a situation like this, you do have to make tough choices. And I choose my sister. Yugi made his own choice too." He stood up shaking, his knees threatening to give out beneath him. He slowly made his way over to Duke.

"Will you stay with me buddy?" He put a hand on his shoulder. Duke peered at it over his rimless glasses and smiled sadly. He took his opposite hand and placed it on Joey's and nodded.

"Good, then let's get going. And if I start screaming like that again…" He swallowed.

"Do what you have to do." There was a deep grimness in his voice. Duke accepted without saying a word, although he doubted he could kill one of the very people he came to save, he saw no point in arguing. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

"Should we just take shelter here?" Joey looked around at the building, many still had complete rooms that hadn't had walls destroyed.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. How about that one?" Duke pointed to a building that resembled all the others. Joey nodded and the two made their way in.

Kaiba climbed over a fallen stop light post. Being used to deprivation of sleep, he was easily adaptable and had gotten enough sleep back at Kame Game to last him. In fact, he decided he was better off on his own. He had always operated that way and it got him to CEO and multibillionaire as a child. Why should this mission be any different? He grunted as he thought of the others. They would have just slowed him down anyway. He had finally accepted working together with them for something and look what they did! Yugi falls asleep on his shift, nearly getting them killed, then runs off in the night and Joey starts screaming like he welcomes death. Who knows, maybe he did. But it didn't matter. Kaiba didn't. Kaiba scowled again. Why had he even thought teaming up with them was a good idea? Had he really changed that much over the years? He didn't think so: just a momentary error in judgment due to the situation. That must be it. He had reached another bad area of the city and it was difficult to get through it. But he would manage. He was sure he would manage.

* * *

Kaiba stood with his hands in his pockets and glared down at the murky water now running with blood and dust from the explosion on the bridge. His kicked a pebble into the murky depths and watched it disappear from sight immediately upon entry. He glared at where the pebble had disappeared and grunted. He slowly raised his head and looked back across to the satellite. He had to get there. He just had to. He couldn't let anything as stupid as a destroyed bridge stop him.

But he knew that air travel between the two regions was outlawed and same with water. But he also knew that there was a thriving underground business of transporting people and goods between the two regions illegally. He didn't mind the idea of breaking the law, it's not like he hadn't before. He just didn't like the idea of being around those type of people in that type of place. Being stuck in a smelly old moldy boat with a bunch of drug dealers or weapons dealers or whatever it might be in the middle of the night wasn't his ideal situation. But he had to get to the satellite, and contrary to his nature, he couldn't be flashy and would have to do it discreetly; even if it meant going on a black market boat.

He kicked another stone mindlessly into the water without looking down. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. He could probably find a boat that just transported family across the lake. Though not as prominent or frequent as the other business across the waters, it wasn't uncommon. The only problem with people boats were that when caught no one really bothered fighting. On a black market boat, there are always guns and even if the police catch you, you can usually get away by shooting or bribing. Police love bribes from a few illegals. But on a group boat, no bribes because there's too many people, and none aboard get violent for fear of hurting their loved ones. Maybe he should go on an arms boat afterall.

He squatted down on the ground and picked up a stone in his hand. He looked at the grey patchy texture and tossed it up and down in his hand, feeling its weight. He held it still and stared at it for a moment before letting it tumble out of his hand and back to the ground with a thud. He then surveyed the ground and found a flat rock which he flipped over a few times in his long skinny fingers and then skipped across the water. It looked like a stone just bouncing off a flat, brick brown sheet of plastic only distorting it behind it, like stretching saran wrap. It made a hollow light noise with each hop until it finally submerged itself far out and disappeared silently from sight. Kaiba eyes the spot where it disappeared and sighed, closing his eyes. He held them closed and stood. They then opened slowly and he turned around to go back to Kaiba Corporation headquarters.

* * *

The sun had begun to rise and Kaiba was sure he was almost at the mansion. He stumbled across the golden ruin scape and he couldn't help but think it looked Egyptian like the millennium items. The odd angles of everything and the confused ruins all golden in the rising sunlight. And though he had never been in the Pharaoh's soul room himself, Yugi had described it to him a while back. And looking around now, he was pretty sure it must have looked similar to this only darker. He glanced over at the fiery orb of light rising in the distance and the pink and orange clouds. He could only see it through some gaps in the destruction he was under but it was enough for him to see and for some reason in his mind it triggered his eyes to open wide and remember: he hadn't brought any water with him. He cursed himself in his mind and decided to immediately get to some clearing of any sort and find clean water to drink. If that failed he would simply make a make-shift filter from whatever he could find. He'd be fine. He knew he'd be fine.

As the sun rose Kaiba finally made it to a clearing and searched for anything that would hint at water. Finding nothing he decided to check buildings that weren't entirely destroyed. He looked for places where people would keep water and found none, until the last building he checked, where he found a refrigerator. Upon opening the door, a disgusting sent came out and he saw some questionable items, but there were a few bottles of water and juice boxes, which he took of course. He tried to ignore the scent of decomposing flesh as he left the home.

Around noon time, it was clear to Kaiba that he had reached his destination. He looked ahead to see the destroyed remains of the Kaiba mansion. It was easy to spot because of the large property being mostly trees and grass. He was pleased that he had arrived but also apprehensive. He began walking towards the crumbled remains of the place he had lived for 27 years; though he hadn't actually spent that much time there, he spent most of his time at the corporation and second to that going somewhere across the globe. But it was still the place that was his house. The place he didn't have to worry about being professional; well after Gozaburo died anyway, before that he had to remain professional there. But it was still eerie seeing it in pieces on the ground; surrounded by toppled trees and flooded muddy grass. Kaiba took a deep breath and began approaching the establishment.

He didn't know what he'd find inside. He knew he'd probably find some dead guards and security. Ideally he'd find Mokuba alive. Worst case scenario he'd find Mokuba_... He couldn't finish the thought. But he knew what probably would happen was he wouldn't find Mokuba at all. He didn't want to admit it, but even though Mokuba was in town visiting, he probably wasn't in the mansion at the time. He did have business to attend to after all. And Mokuba took a late lunch break when working, so he'd be at work instead of at the mansion eating lunch. But Mokuba also wasn't working in the headquarters building, so the mansion was his only chance.

Kaiba flicked his head to get some of his hair out of his face. He could probably use a haircut.

He arrived at the broken sidewalk outside the mansion before a crumbled wall of brick. He climbed the wall and reached the other end to be greeted by a swamp. He made his way along the bricks to the driveway, which, of course, still had the steel gate in front of it. He made his way onto the driveway, which was soaked with muddy water with a layer of almost-sand building at the bottom. He rolled up the bottom of his pants so they wouldn't get wet and he stepped into the murky water. As he took steps through it, his motion churned the dirt and he felt the muddy water soaking through his feet. He didn't care. He walked up the driveway as though it weren't flooded. His normal walk didn't cause splashes anyway. He stepped over some sections of what was once the entrance to the mansion. Parts of the building still stood, and those were where he had to look. It was his only hope of finding Mokuba.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey, sorry this chapter didn't come out as well as I might have hoped. And it jumps around between the times a lot. But anyway, here it is. Thank you **ohmygodagiantrock** for you review (ps, love your name)!

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Chapter 11

Kaiba searched through the entire mansion, what seemed like an entire country, and found nothing. He found a few remains of guards, if you could call them remains, but that was all. He reluctantly decided to head back to the site of their old high school, realizing that the helicopter would be returning the next day and the journey back would be about a day's walk. He skulked off the mansion grounds and back over the brick wall. He decided to cut through a portion of the city to get back to the site faster and he set off in that direction.

* * *

Kaiba brushed some dust and dirt from his suit and walked confidently into the Kaiba Corporation building. He ignored the city around him and strode to the conference room where he was to meet with his board. He pulled out a pocket watch and checked it; he was right on time, as always, even without paying any special attention to arriving at the right time. He opened both doors wide and walked in. He didn't sit down, instead he just stood at the head of the table. "Good evening." All eyes were trained on him. He scanned the room and found an empty seat. "Where is he?" He narrowed his eyes at the seat and the board looked at the empty seat too.

* * *

The sun was setting, and Kaiba needed to find shelter. He began attempting to scan the horizon for anything that would suffice, but couldn't see much from all the rubble. He stared into the sky and then caught a train of dark smoke rising away. He followed it down with his eyes but couldn't find the source. It would only be a slight detour from his path, so he decided to go investigate. He came close to the source as the sun had nearly disappeared and he heard noise. He reached the peak of a sloping hill and stood on top, having found the source. In a clearing below were tents pitched and a fire glowing, with people in blankets gathered around it: a sort of refugee camp. He stood there, watching them mull around, fetching pales of water and comforting and warming children.

A rare spark of hope flared somewhere in Kaiba. Perhaps Mokuba would be here, safe and sound. He quickly stifled the emotion, though. He couldn't allow himself to get his hopes up. Instead, he casually began walking towards the camp. Soon, a thin, frail woman crouching by the fire with a blanket wrapped around her noticed the strange man walking toward the camp. She stood up and scampered off toward a tent and poked her head inside as she gently pushed the man inside, whispering loudly to try and wake him. "Bakura! … Bakura!" The white haired man, white hair still as long and untamed as ever groggily rolled over rubbing his head. "There's someone coming towards the camp." He lazily yawned and reached for the side of the tent, grabbing a shot gun laying there. He took it in his hands and the woman moved to allow him to get out of the tent. He started walking towards the person coming towards them, they couldn't distinguish him in the night.

Kaiba saw the white haired man, though in the dark he didn't know him. He lifted his hands into the air, "I mean no harm, I'm just looking for someone I know." Bakura had his shot gun pointed at the CEO, but he lowered it slightly at the faint recognition of the voice. He stood still for a moment trying to identify it in his memory to no avail. Suddenly it hit him. The shot gun fell to the ground and thudded as it hit the dirt.

"Kaiba?!" Kaiba lowered his arms and took a few steps forward, now his face being illuminated in the light of the fire. "Kaiba!" Bakura was ecstatic and he threw himself at the CEO who had his shoulders raised and was looking oddly at the thin man now wrapped around him.

"Bakura… What are you doing in Domino?" Bakura shook his head and smiled as he pulled away slightly from the CEO.

"I wasn't supposed to be here in Domino. I happened here by mistake. I was supposed to be on a connecting flight through Tokyo, but our flight got diverted from weather. We landed in Domino and were supposed to get a flight back to Tokyo about 30 minutes after the quake. I suppose I've always been unlucky though." Bakura fully dislodged himself from Kaiba only for another figure to fling herself at him. She was crying tears of joy into his shirt and clutching his shirt in her hands. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

"Oh Kaiba, it's so wonderful to see you're alive. I could see the Kaiba Corp building collapse when it happened." A few tears fell to the ground and she sniffled through her smile. She spoke quietly, "I thought for sure there would be no survivors." She removed one of her hands from Kaiba to fix a stray lock of hair that had fallen in her face. She looked up at the puzzled CEO softly and smiled sadly. "You don't remember me do you?" He looked puzzled. Bakura chimed in.

"He has a photographic memory, of course he remembers you. You just look different is all."

"He remembered you!"

"I have the exact same hair as I did though. Yours was always neat and brushed, whereas now because of everything it's a mess." He smiled at her. "Mines always been a mess." The woman looked back up at Kaiba, who then figured it out.

"You're Serenity Wheeler." He said it monotonously. But still she nodded furiously as more tears spilled. After a half minute more of crying she relaxed her grip on him and wiped at her tears.

"I'm sorry, I've gotten your shirt all wet and I've bothered you enough." She still held his shirt in her hands but was now standing a bit further away. From the corner of his eye he saw Bakura staring off behind Serenity with a smirk. Kaiba looked over Serenity's shoulder and saw a figure, cloaked in darkness, approaching them.

* * *

The entire room of board members looked to the door as it slowly opened and the black haired man slipped in. Kaiba narrowed his eyes like daggers at him as he awkwardly took his seat, looking guilty. "You're late." The man nodded in apology and Kaiba began speaking. "I'll be blunt with all of you. I'm taking Kaiba Corporation out of Domino City." There was a small uproar among the board, which was quickly silenced by one of Kaiba's glares of death. "This is not up for debate! I am informing you to give you the choice, you can leave Domino City with the company if you please, or you can stay in this town. The choice is all of yours to make. But Kaiba Corporation is leaving. Now. I am going to leave to continue the work involved with moving the company. You all have a week to decide." With that he walked to the door and exited, the man who was late rose and followed him. They walked down the hallway together.

"Where'd you disappear to this morning?" Kaiba didn't answer to the shorter man. "I went to your office a few times during the day today. You weren't there any of them."

"I went to visit some people. Unfortunately the bridge was blown up and I didn't make it over to the satellite."

"Were you over there during that?!" The CEO nodded and looked at the concerned face of the man next to him before rolling his eyes. "Oh relax. I wasn't actually on the bridge or anything, I was still in Neo Domino. Besides, we both know I've been in more dangerous situation than an explosion on some bridge." The shorter bit his lip.

"I'm happy you decided to leave."

* * *

"Seto!" Kaiba's eyes widened and he gently moved Serenity to the side before running to the man in front of him. He hugged him tight and didn't let go.

"Mokuba." The two brothers stood holding each other by the fire.

"Seto… You, you were in the building, and I saw it collapse." Kaiba gently stroked the younger's hair, about the length and style now of Bakura's.

"I got out on a helicopter before Mokuba. And it's coming back tomorrow. I'll get you out of here." Kaiba felt new tears penetrating his shirt, this time higher up than Serenity's; Mokuba was taller than she was and his tears soaked into the man's shoulder. He finally let the relief flow through him and allowed himself to be engulfed in it. He found Mokuba. They would be alright.

* * *

"I know, Mokuba. You've wanted us to leave for a long time." Mokuba chuckled. "What?"

"Nah, it's just. I'm normally the optimistic one. You know, the one with faith in humanity and all." Kaiba continued walking, him face didn't change. "But I'm the one who said Domino was hopeless and we should leave. And you were the one who thought it still had a shot."

"I never had faith in the people of the city, Mokuba. I thought maybe it could be saved though… But with the direction things are going, I realized time and resources would be better spent elsewhere."

"So who were you visiting?"

"I'm still am going to go to the satellite. It will just be a little more difficult now."

"But, going there's illegal now."

"That's why it's a little more difficult."

"Well, how do you plan on going about that?"

"There's a lot of black market trade between Neo Domino and the satellite. I'll find a boat or something."

"Can't you just take your own boat and pay off anyone who tries to stop you?" He shook his head.

"There's a monopoly over the illegal transport between the regions. They shoot at any other boats in the area."

"Seto, this sounds dangerous. Why are you going to the satellite? You never told me who you were visiting."

"Serenity Wheeler."

"Why?"

"I need to give her a chance to leave this place while it's still possible… I owe her that much."

* * *

After an eternity the brothers separated and Kaiba looked into Mokuba's eyes softly. "We're going to be alright Mokuba." He turned towards Serenity and Bakura. "We'll all be okay. Us four will get on the helicopter and get out of here." He saw Serenity's concerned face. "Don't worry Serenity. We'll just get supplies and come searching for the others." She looked at him hopefully.

"Have you seen any of them?" He stood silent for a long while. Contemplating whether or not to tell the truth. He knew how upset they'd be that he left Yugi, Duke, and Joey. But if they found them, they would find out anyway. He decided that he didn't care much if they were upset. But if he said he'd seen them, these 3 would likely be reluctant to leave, even if it were only for a short time to get supplies.

"No, I haven't." He'd tell them, but he didn't have to now. Bakura took a step towards him.

"Why did you hesitate?" Kaiba really had to think quickly on his feet, this time he did so better.

"I found Solomon Moto dead." The group looked horror stricken. More tears began falling from Serenity's face.

"I didn't know he was still alive. Shame to go like this." Bakura spoke quietly as he looked at the ground.

"He lived a good, long life. We need to focus on saving your friends." Serenity sniffled and nodded gently. "The helicopter should be getting me around noon tomorrow, at the site where the high school used to be. We can sleep now and we'll need to leave before sunrise to get there."

"What about the others?... At this camp, I mean." Serenity had wide eyes and looked around at the other little pitched tents as she stroked her own hair nervously.

"I can't have the helicopter drop off supplies, it will attract too much attention here."

"So, are we going to carry stuff here?"

"We'll bring what we can, but it won't be much. It's half a day's walk here." Another tear fell down Serenity's face.

"What about the children? Can we take them with us to the helicopter?" Kaiba held the same dark, serious glare as always. He stood silently, considering.

"How many are there?"

"Two."

"How old are they?"

"5 and 6. A boy and a girl."

"Yes, I suppose they can come." Serenity smiled brightly at the CEO. "If we have to bring them with us, we'll have to leave earlier to make it on time. Get some rest."

"Kaiba, don't you need to sleep."

"Bakura, I've never gotten a lot of sleep. Why should anything be different now?"

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Again, I never intend to put any shipping in this, but if you interpret it that way, that's up to you. I like to leave shipping up for interpretation :)

Also, I'm pretty sure that reunion scene came out really awkwardly. I wasn't sure how to write it, as you could probably tell :) I don't know, hopefully it wasn't all bad though. Anyway, thanks for reading :)


	12. Chapter 12

Yay, next chapter. Thank you LadyRitsu for your review. I appreciate it :) Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 12

The sun wasn't anywhere close to rising yet, but Kaiba had become good enough at telling time over the years to judge it was probably somewhere around 3:30am. That' when he decided to wake up the others. First he woke up Bakura. Bakura wasn't looking at him when he woke up, his eyes weren't adjusted to the dark. But Kaiba could see him fine.

"Bakura. You awake?" Bakura nodded to Kaiba's whisper.

"Yeah, is it time to go?" It was Kaiba's turn to nod.

"Do you have any other weapons?"

"Just a knife." Kaiba went to wake Mokuba, lying further to the side in the small tent. He gently pushed his shoulder to wake him.

"How'd you get that shot gun anyway?"

"Used the knife." Kaiba didn't question him any further. He had gotten the basic idea of what had happened that led to Bakura acquiring the shot gun. Mokuba sat up awake and Bakura handed him the knife, which he placed in his belt as Kaiba woke Serenity. Serenity and Bakura crawled out of the tent as Kaiba and Mokuba went to the back to get the two small children they were taking along. They were careful not to wake them as they hoisted them onto their backs to carry. Kaiba walked up to Serenity and held out his gun.

"Take it."

"Kaiba, I couldn't shoo_"

"I can't react fast enough to shoot while carrying the kid. In the morning the kid will start walking on their own and you can give it back to me then." Serenity looked down at the gun and didn't reach for it. Kaiba moved it again, gesturing for her to take it. "It's to protect the kids, Serenity."

"I know, I'd want to protect them… But I don't think I could." Kaiba couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Look, you probably won't even have to use it. We might not come across anyone and if we do Bakura might be able to handle it on his own. But you need to be able to do this." Serenity slowly reached out and took the gun firmly in her hand. "Let's get going then." The group set off into the night. Kaiba and Mokuba weren't very disadvantaged by carrying the children, as they were light. They were more careful not to wake them, though. Serenity timidly stepped over and under debris, always looking a little too fragile and scared; probably from the gun she had in her coat. She didn't like the idea of using it, but even more she didn't like the idea that they might be put into a situation where she would have to. But it comforted her when she saw the sun start rising. She liked being able to see again. She never wanted to go back to being unable to see ever again.

But she really wished she could see her older brother right then. She wished beyond words that he was okay.

Suddenly she collided with the brick wall that was Kaiba and she nearly fell to the ground. He didn't seem to notice. He was standing completely still, looking off to the side. Then he quickly set down the child he was holding and went running in a seemingly random direction. "Seto! What are you doing?"

"Kaiba!" Bakura went running after the CEO, with Mokuba and Serenity staying behind with the children. Kaiba approached the bloody figure he had seen through the gaps of the broken wood and glass and even while lying face down in blood he recognized it as Joey Wheeler. He kneeled at his side and felt his neck for a pulse. Relieved, he found one. He turned the body over so it was facing up and found a large gash across his stomach and what looked like a gunshot wound in his left leg. "Joey!" Bakura arrived at Kaiba's side. "…Is… Is he…"

"He's alive. Might not stay that way though if we don't get going and get help." He lifted him up and carried him back to where Mokuba and Serenity were sitting with the now-awake children. The little boy was the first to notice the others coming back. He got up and ran toward them.

"Is that man okay? Who is he? Is he dead?" Then Serenity noticed and her hands instantly went to her mouth.

"Don't worry. He's fine. He's a friend of ours." The got back to Mokuba and Serenity.

"Joey. I never thought I'd see him again." Serenity was crying all over again; partially from the joy of seeing her brother was alive, but also in horror to see him bloody and unconscious. Nonetheless they continued moving, the children taking turns having Mokuba carry them.

About an hour later the sun was up and it was starting to get hot. The walkers started sweating and taking drinks from the few water bottles they had with them. "Kaiba?" Kaiba turned toward the thing girl on his side. "Is he going to be okay?" "Well, his bleeding slowed and his pulse has been fine. He'll have proper care in a few hours. He'll be fine." She smiled. She knew that Kaiba would tell her the truth. If he thought that Joey wouldn't make it, he'd say so. Not too long after though Kaiba noticed something. He noted that the mutt's breathing was a little choppy. He contemplated; it could mean that the mutt was either waking up or dying. Either was a very real possibility. He didn't know how much blood Wheeler had lost. And he didn't know what had happened to him since he had last seen him. It had been a day and a half and two nights now.

But what most concerned him was that he found Wheeler bloody… alone. He couldn't put it out of his mind; what happened to Duke? If he found Joey dead, it would have been understandable for Duke to have moved on. But Joey was still alive. If someone had shot Joey, Duke would have hid, but he would have emerged later to help Joey. And even if Joey had gone insane and Duke had to shoot him, he would have made sure he was dead so he wouldn't have to suffer. Kaiba couldn't help but feel like he wanted Joey to be waking up more to find out what happened than for Wheeler's life.

They continued walking and Kaiba continued thinking of what could have happened to Duke. Could Joey have done something to Duke? Could they have both been ambushed but Joey managed to limp away? He became confident he would find an answer when he realized Joey was moving a little; just a little movement in his face and hands, but it was enough to notice. "Serenity. I think your brother's waking up."

"Really!" She beamed, then fell silent. "He'll be in a lot of pain won't he?"

"Probably."

"Is there anything you can do for him?"

"Not on the move. And we can't stop." Kaiba returned his focus to Joey, now with open eyes staring at him. Mokuba noticed immediately and rushed over.

"Joey! Hey are you okay man?" Joey just closed his eyes and dug his head into Kaiba as he groaned. Serenity reached over and pet his hair as they walked, until they came to an obstacle and had to move single file. Joey stopped grumbling for the most part but Kaiba could feel him tremble with pain and grimace. He could tell he was holding in the pain that he felt with every move. Kaiba wasn't usually too considerate, but after seeing the gash across Wheeler's stomach he tried to move to cause him the least pain.

The morning continued like that until Kaiba started recognizing his surroundings. He smiled and altered their path slightly. Then, before noon, he saw it; the slab of concrete where Domino High School had been. He stopped walking and smiled. The others, too, stopped and looked at the man who had stopped. "Welcome back to Domino High School." They all took in the site, slowly recognizing the few-remaining landmarks and spaces as those belonging to their old high school. The children, of course, didn't recognize it, but the older members of the group did. Mokuba set down the child he was carrying.

"So, when's this helicopter coming?" Kaiba, being a human clock, responded that it should be there in the next hour. Bakura started walking out onto the slab, to which Kaiba responded.

"Bakura. Don't go out there. It's wide open and we might be here a little while. We don't want to attract attention to ourselves." Bakura nodded and returned, and they sat down in the shade of a sheet of metal. But Kaiba remained standing, holding Joey.

"Seto, come on and sit down. You haven't slept in days have you?"

"I'm fine Mokuba, and I'd like to try and clean Joey up a bit away from the children. He'll probably be in a lot of pain." He started walking off with no protest. Once he was out of ear shot of the others he continued talking, this time to a different audience. He whispered to Joey. "Wheeler, I know you can hear me, and you're going to tell me what happened to Devlin." Joey didn't respond verbally, but Kaiba saw him pale and felt him swallow as his breathing became shaky.

* * *

Kaiba set off that night to visit the satellite. He was well aware of the underground networks. And he didn't mind paying the hefty price for the illegal transport. True, the price was very high, due to the monopoly and the illegal nature of the business, but price was no problem for the multibillionaire. One thing that had never been a problem for him since he was 10 was money. He had other problems and obstacles, but money was never one of them.

Now more than ever he was grateful for his money. It meant he could get to the satellite. And so he boarded the boat to go to the satellite in the middle of the night. He hadn't told Mokuba that he was going that night. He hadn't told him anything specific about it. He didn't want Mokuba accompanying him or trying to stop him or worrying about him. He didn't need to worry about Mokuba now, too. And so the boat set off from Neo Domino to the satellite.


	13. Chapter 13

I am so sorry! I haven't updated in ages! I've been trying to figure out some little details and stuff around this part of the story but mostly I just have to blame my own laziness and putting it off. Sorry again!

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Chapter 13

"You hear me mutt?" Kaiba set Joey down onto the ground leaning against a small hill of dirt. Joey's eyelids slid down and his head drooped. Kaiba sighed and walked back to the others to grab a bottle of water. The helicopter would come soon so he could use the extra water now to clean off Joey's wounds. He walked back and splashed a little water in Joey's face, to which Joey moaned a little. "Wheeler, I'm gonna clean up your wounds. Okay?" Joey nodded a little and Kaiba leaned him forward to remove his now destroyed t-shirt. He poured a little water over the huge gash across Joey's stomach and then poured a little water onto Joey's now balled-up shirt in his hand and dabbed the wound. Joey grimaced a little as he did so. Kaiba examined the gash. It looked like something had torn across his skin.

He then moved to his leg, also exposed because the pant leg was entirely cut off a little below the knee. There, too, was a large gash and a gunshot wound lower. "What happened to you Wheeler?" Kaiba mumbled to himself as he started cleaning up his leg.

When he was done he set Joey's shirt aside to dry a little and he sprinkled some water on Joey's face. The blonde opened his eyes a little and looked up at Kaiba.

"What happened?" Kaiba stared down at the injured man lying in the dirt. Joey wanted to go back to closing his eyes and trying to ignore the pain in his stomach and leg but saw from Kaiba's expression that he wouldn't stop until he had his answer. Tears started forming in Joey's eyes as he recalled the events.

"It's all my fault Kaiba. It's all my fault."

"What happened? Where's Duke?" Joey shook his head.

"He's, he's gone Kaiba. And it's all my fault." Kaiba stopped talking and tried to process it. Duke. Was he dead? Was Duke really dead? Joey didn't actually say that but he didn't know what else he could mean. Still, Joey wasn't exactly in the right state of mind. He could hope he didn't mean…

"What. Happened. To Duke?"

"We, we were going to the area of town with the motorcycle shop Tristan…" He stopped talking.

"What, is there something about Tristan now?!" Joey nodded but then he switched to shaking it 'no.'

"No. Nothing about him… now."

"What's that supposed to mean? Tell me things straight!" He was getting really angry with Joey and he found himself practically spitting at him. Why couldn't he just tell him what happened? Did he think this was some kind of game? He didn't have time for this when people's lives were in question!

"We went to that part of town, and there was a little refugee area. And we found Tristan there. But, but then, there were these guys. Bad guys." He went quiet again and his head dropped with his long hair blocking his face in shadow. "Well, I guess I'm a bad guy now though." Kaiba scowled.

"Just get on with it." Joey swallowed and kept his head down.

"So they had guns and had us surrounded and they brought us to this fenced in area with some rooms with doors with locks and they threw us in there. And we listened form behind the door and they were arguing about eating us or using us as slaves or just killing us and taking our stuff. So Duke made this plan that we would wait and then escape at the right time. He would tell us when to act. And we agreed to it… But then… one of the guys was turned around and I didn't see anyone else around… I didn't listen to Duke. I attacked him… The others came and shot at us and I ran away like a coward. The others all died." He wasn't crying anymore. He just looked completely disgusted. "All my life, I thought I was tough Kaiba." His voice got quiet and high pitched and the tears started coming again. "But I just killed some of the best friends I ever had because I was scared." Kaiba glared at him. He didn't know whether to hate him, or pity him, or both. "And some of them were injured on the ground. I could have helped them escape too… But I didn't." The two were silent. Kaiba was about to ask how he got the gashes when Joey spoke again incredibly quietly. "You should have just let me die Kaiba. I don't deserve to live." Joey suddenly felt stinging on his face and his head was hit to the side. He gaped wide eyed at Kaiba. "Did you just slap me?"

"Yes."

"I deserve worse than that after what I did."

"I didn't slap you because of what you did. I slapped you because you said you don't deserve to live. Death is the easy way out, mutt. Saying I should have let you die is the most cowardly thing you've done thus far. Just dying is being afraid of owning up to your actions. It's so you don't have to accept responsibility for what you've done. Now you're going to live for your sister there and stop being so pathetic and get on with yourself and your life. Don't be saying you should have died when so many have already died needlessly." There came a deep pulsing from far away and Kaiba turned to see a helicopter coming from the distance. Kaiba leaned over and grabbed Joey's shirt and put it back over him. He puck Joey up without saying another word and started carrying him over to the others.

Joey looked up at him with big sad eyes. "But Kaiba, I don't think it's possible to live on after what I've done." Kaiba glared at him.

"Look Wheeler. Obviously it's possible. I'm still alive aren't I?"

"Yes…?" Kaiba saw the confusion in Joey's eyes.

"I've ruined a lot of lives. I've had men tortured and had lives ended. So don't cry to me about not being able to live with what you've done."

"But I'm not a heartless murderer." Kaiba couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at the comment. He was just saying what an awful person he was and now he was arguing that he wasn't so terrible.

The helicopter landed and it blew dust and dirt in all directions from its wind. First Mokuba made sure the children made it into the helicopter okay, then Serenity got in, followed by Kaiba carrying Joey and then Bakura.

Serenity tried to talk to Joey, but he was fast asleep when the helicopter took off. Kaiba was grateful. They could tell the others about Tristan and Duke and the old man and the missing Yugi later on.

* * *

Kaiba was wearing a light coat with a hood and plain slacks. He had a gun and a taser with him. He hoped he wouldn't have to use the gun. And he couldn't imagine a situation for the taser. But he had shrugged it off while grabbing them. You never know what could happen and it didn't hurt to bring the both. As much as he wished he couldn't though, he could imagine himself having to use the gun. He really hoped it wouldn't come to that, or anywhere near that, but it was out of his hands.

He leaned against part of the ship and looked around at some of the other people around him. Most of them looked decent enough. For the most part they seemed to just be regular people trying to meet up with family or that sort of thing. Of course there were a few that looked more threatening and sketchy. Some of them were definitely dealers of sorts. Some of them were probably on the run from the law and retreating to the haven of the satellite.

"Get away you creep!" Kaiba turned to see one of the sketchy looking men cornering a normal looking girl against the side of the boat. He immediately walked over and stepped behind the man.

"I suggest you get away from her." The man peered over his shoulder but only part way with a smug grin on his face.

"Oh yeah? Says who?" The man immediately turned swiftly to punch Kaiba but Kaiba held out his palm and caught the fist at shoulder height. He squeezed it and began turning the arm so that the offender was effectively immobilized. The burly man tried to kick Kaiba but he just used the man's energy to flip him onto the ground. He grabbed him by the back collar of his shirt and threw him to the side on the deck.

"Now beat it." The man moaned a little and then ashamedly limped away growling. Kaiba stayed facing him as he scuttled away.

"Thank you." Kaiba turned back toward the young girl. She looked like she was in her mid to late twenties or so. She had long dirty blond hair and eyes to match. Even though it was nighttime it was easy to tell. He couldn't help but think she looked a lot like Joey Wheeler. If Joey Wheeler was a girl this is probably what he'd look like.

Her eyes widened as he turned toward her and she caught the bright blue of his eyes even in the night. She hadn't recognized him dressed the way he was and in a place like this but now that she had seen those brutal blue eyes she was sure. "You're Seto Kaiba!" She looked completely stunned. "But, what are you doing in a place like this?" Kaiba narrowed his eyes at her.

"That's my business." A young man of about the same age walked up to the two. He had hair that was pointed sideways to the back with a rigid face and a leather jacket.

"Bastion! It's Seto Kaiba!" Bastion immediately looked to the man who was still looking at them over his shoulder and a huge smile stretched across his entire face. He looked like a little kid who just got a puppy on Christmas morning. He looked even more excited.

"Seto Kaiba! You're my idol! I adore you! I studied your dueling technique for years! I_" The girl jabbed her British accented companion with an elbow and glared at him saying 'stop it, you'll scare him.' Kaiba looked at the two a little amused. His ego could always use a few adoring fans. He turned toward the two and the shorter man reached out a hand to him. "Bastion Misawa." He wore an anticipating smile. Kaiba could tell nothing would make the man happier than to shake the hand of the great Seto Kaiba. He smiled inwardly feeling somewhat evil as he rejected the handshake and turned toward the girl.

"Alexis Rhodes. We're going to meet up with some friends of ours in the satellite." She looked down at the ground. "We haven't seen them in some time and now it seems the entire city is going to shut down." Bastion continued staring at Kaiba with an amazed expression, as though Kaiba was a deity that had appeared before him. Kaiba found it amusing. It was normal to get this response from young children. Not as much from adults. Then Alexis looked at him, expecting him to introduce himself. He sighed inwardly and reluctantly did so.

"Seto Kaiba."

"Bastion, Kaiba saved me while you were gone! A man was attacking me and he saved me!" Bastion's expression dropped, seemingly jealous that it wasn't he who was saved by his idol. Kaiba turned to walk away from the two. "Wait!" Kaiba turned back to the girl who he couldn't stop thinking looked like Joey. "Why are you here?" Kaiba ignored her and began walking back away to his spot standing against a wall of the boat.

* * *

Yeah, I know I've been bringing in GX characters every once in awhile. But I'm definitely not calling it a crossover since they're barely involved. I just feel like throwing them in because I think it's fun and I prefer to throw in GX characters rather than OC's :)

Sorry again about not updating. I should be a little better off with it once exams are over.


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